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20  SPIRITUALISM 

this  Sub-Committee,  illustrating  the  nature  of  the 
Evidence  that  came  before  them : — 

"Experiment  XXXVIIL,  Dec.  28th  [1869]. — 
Eight  members  present.  Phenomena:  Kapping 
sounds  from  the  table  and  floor,  and  movements 
of  the  table,  with  and  without  contact.  The 
alphabet  was  repeated,  and  the  following  letters 
were  rapped  :  '  A  bad  circle — ^want  of  harmony.'  At 
the  letter  f,  the  table  tilted  three  times,  and  at 
the  letters  a,  r,  gave  several  forcible  horizontal 
movements,  tilting  at  either  end. 

"  Raps,  with  slight  tiltings  of  the  table,  beating 
time  to  the  measure  of  a  song.  Two  or  three 
poems  were  recited,  to  the  measure  of  which 
there  were  loud  raps  from  the  table  and  floor, 
and  the  table  also  marked  the  metre  by  various 
horizontal  movements  and  tiltings. 

''  Hood's  Anatomy  Song  being  repeated  by  one 
of  the  members,  the  knocking,  rapping,  and  tilt- 
ing sounds,  with  various  horizontal,  trembling,  and 
vibratory  movements  of  the  table,  accompanied 
it,  in  exact  harmony  with  the  measure,  added  to 
which  were  strange  movements,  in  accordance 
with  the  character  of  the  verses.  In  one  in- 
stance the  table  shifted  its  position  several  feet, 
the  tips  of  the  fingers  only  being  in  contact 
with  it. 

"  Movements  without  Contact.  —  Question  : 
'  Would  the  table  now  be  moved  without  con- 
tact ? '  Answer :  '  Yes ; '  by  three  raps  on  the 
table.  All  chairs  were  then  turned  with  their 
backs  to  the  table,  and  nine  inches  away  from  it; 
and   all   present  knelt    on    the    chairs,  with    their 


THE    MOVEMENT    OF    OBJECTS  21 

wrists  resting  on  the  backs,  and  their  hands  a 
few  inches  above  the  table. 

''  Under  these  conditions,  the  table  (the  heavy 
dining-room  table  previously  described)  moved 
four  times,  each  time  from  four  to  six  inches,  and 
the  second  time  nearly  twelve  inches. 

*'  Then  all  hands  were  placed  on  the  backs  of 
the  chairs,  and  nearly  a  foot  from  the  table,  when 
four  movements  occurred,  one  slow  and  continuous 
for  nearly  a  minute. 

"  Then  all  present  placed  their  hands  behind  their 
backs,  kneeling  erect  on  their  chairs,  which  were  re- 
moved a  foot  clear  away  from  the  table.  The  gas 
also  was  turned  up  higher,  so  as  to  give  abundance 
of  light ;  and  under  these  test  conditions,  distinct 
movements  occurred,  to  the  extent  of  several  inches 
each  time,  and  visible  to  every  one  present. 

"  The  motions  were  in  various  directions,  towards 
all  parts  of  the  room — some  were  abrupt,  others 
steady.  At  the  same  time,  and  under  the  same  con- 
ditions, distinct  raps  occurred,  apparently  both  on  the 
floor  and  on  the  table,  in  answer  to  requests  for  them. 

''  The  above-described  movements  were  so  un- 
mistakable, that  all  present  unhesitatingly  declared 
their  conviction,  that  no  physical  force,  exerted  by 
any  one  present,  could  possibly  have  produced 
them;  and  they  declared  further,  in  writing,  that 
a  rigid  examination  of  the  table  showed  it  to  be 
an  ordinary  dining-table,  with  no  machinery  or 
apparatus  of  any  kind  connected  with  it.  The 
table  was  laid  on  the  floor  with  its  legs  up,  and 
taken  to  pieces  so  far  as  practicable."  ^ 

»  Report,  &c.,  pp.  390-391. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

GIFT  OF 


Professor  Edna  W.  Bailey 


^^r.^^u^ 


THE   PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA 

POPULARLY  CLASSED  UNDER  THE  HEAD  OF 

SPIRITUALISM 

WITH   FACSIMILE  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE  DRAWINGS 

AND  DIRECT  WRITING 


EDWARD    T.   BENNETT 

ASSISTANT-SECRETARY  TO  THE  SOCIETY  OP 
PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH,  1882-1903 


WITH  A  BRIEF  INTRODUCTION  BY 

SIR  OLIVER  LODGE 


"I  have  both  seen  and  heard,  in  a  mangier  which  would  make 
unbelief  impossible,  thiTigs  called  spiritual,  which  cannot  be  taken 
by  a  rational  being  to  be  capable  of  explanation  by  imposture, 
coincidence,  or  mista/ce."— Professor  Augustus  De  Morgan. 


NEW  YORK 

brent  ANO'S 

1907 


Gurt 


\90 


NOTE 

The  writer  desires  to  express  his  sincere  thanks  to 
the  Council  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Kesearch 
for  the  permission  given  to  make  extracts  from 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Society,  from  the  privately 
printed  Journal,  and  from  "  Phantasms  of  the 
Living " ;  and  for  allowing  the  reproduction  of 
a  series  of  Thought  -  Transference  Drawings. 
Also  best  thanks  are  due  to  Mrs.  Myers,  and  to 
Messrs.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  for  permission  to 
make  quotations  from  Mr.  F.  W.  H.  Myers'  great 
work,  *'  Human  Personality  and  its  Survival  of 
Bodily  Death."  Also  to  Mr.  J.  Burns  and  his 
brother,  for  freely  granting  permission  for  any  use 
to  be  made  of  the  James  Burns  1873  Edition  of 
the  "  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Dialectical 
Society." 

E.  T.  B. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGB 

I.  Introductory 11 

II.  The  Movement  of  Objects  without  any  Appa- 
rent Physical  Cause 16 

III.  The  Production  of  Sound  without  any  Appa- 

rent Physical  Cause 31 

IV.  The  Appearance  of  Light  without  any  Appa- 

rent Physical  Cause 35 

V.  Physical    Phenomena    in    the     Presence    of 

Daniel  Dunglas  Home 41 

VI.  Physical    Phenomena  in  the  Presence  of  W: 

Stainton  Moses  .        .        .        .        .        .         .58 

VII.  The  Divining  Kod 76 

VIII.  Thought-Transi'erence  Drawings       ...  89 

IX.  Materialisations 109 

X.  "Spirit  Photography" 113 

XI.  The  Summimg  Up  of  the  Whole  Matter  .        .  121 


vii 


INTRODUCTION 

By  Sir  OLIVER  LODGE 

Consulted  by  the  publishers  as  to  the  pro- 
duction of  a  small  popular  text-book,  which 
should  constitute  a  summary  indication  of  the 
nature  of  the  evidence  for  ultra-normal  physical 
or  meta-psychical  phenomena,  I  suggested  Mr. 
E.  T.  Bennett  as  the  right  man  for  the  task. 
I  have  now  seen  the  proof  sheets,  and — without 
making  myself  in  any  way  responsible  for  details 
— perceive  that  he  has  done  the  work  well,  and 
has  presented  a  satisfactory  outline  of  the  testi- 
mony for  whatever  it  may  be  worth.  Concern- 
ing its  value  I  will  only  say  that  to  my  mind 
there  comes  a  stage  at  which  belief  in  gratuitous 
invention  and  false  statement  becomes  forced 
and  irrational.  With  most  of  the  evidence  here 
adduced  I  have  of  course  been  famihar  for 
years,  in  its  original  sources,  and  am  well  aware 
of  the  extreme  difficulty  or  impossibility  of 
understanding  some  of  the  alleged  facts  in  any 
physical  or  physiological  sense ;  nevertheless  if 


10  INTRODUCTION 

I  am  asked  whether  such  impressions  can  be 
actually  received  and  honestly  recorded  by  sane 
people,  and  whether  I  recommend  experiment 
by  careful  and  competent  and  unsuperstitious 
observers  as  if  a  prima  facie  case  had  been 
made  out — that  is  to  say,  as  if  some  of  these 
unusual  and  hitherto  quite  unexplained  occur- 
rences might  possibly  turn  out  to  be  true — 
having  laws  of  their  own  and  constituting  an 
unopened  chapter  of  science,  or  rather  a  new 
science,  uniting  characteristics  from  physical, 
chemical,  physiological,  and  psychological 
sciences,  and  throwing  new  light  on  the 
connection  between  mind  and  matter — then, 
though  doubtless  the  answer  will  be  received 
with  scorn,  I  answer  unhesitatingly  yes. 


SPIRITUALISM 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

A  SHORT  title  to  a  book  has  its  advantages.  It  has 
also  its  disadvantages.  It  is  almost  inevitable  that 
it  should,  on  the  one  hand,  seem  to  include  much 
more  than  is  intended,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  fail 
to  convey  the  purpose  of  the  author.  *'  Geology " 
would  be  a  tolerably  large  subject.  "Astronomy" 
would  be  vastly  larger.  But  "  Spiritualism  "  is  an 
infinite  subject  compared  with  either,  and  to  suggest 
that  its  claims  to  scientific  study  be  considered 
within  the  compass  of  a  small  volume  of  not 
much  over  a  hundred  pages  seems  the  height  of 
presumption ! 

It  will  therefore  be  well  at  the  outset  to  indicate 
exactly  what  it  is  proposed  to  include  in  the  present 
investigation  into  "  Spiritualism."  The  alleged 
phenomena  of  Spiritualism  may  be  roughly  divided 
into  two  classes — physical  and  mental.  Those 
which  belong  entirely  to  the  latter  class  are  out- 
side the  scope  of  this  book.  It  is  proposed  to 
examine  those  phenomena  of  the  former  class,  the 
reality    of   which    may    fairly    be    assumed    to    be 


1 2  SPIRITUALISM 

proved  by  scientific  evidence.  The  scope  of  the 
work  is  thus  reduced  to  .  reasonable  proportions. 
There  are  several  groups  of  phenomena  which 
appear  to  violate,  or  at  l^ast  to  extend  in  a 
striking  manner,  laws  recognised  by  Physical 
Science.  The  evidence  to  be  relied  on  will  be 
that  of  scientific  men  of  high  standing,  and  of 
other  persons  of  unquestioned  literary  and  social 
position. 

There  is,  however,  an  important  respect,  in  re- 
gard to  which  this  inquiry  is  placed  in  an  entirely 
different  position  to  any  ordinary  scientific  investi- 
gation, and  one  which  adds  greatly  to  the  difficulties 
of  the  student.  Ordinary  experiments  conducted 
in  a  physical  laboratory  can  be  repeated  again  and 
again  under  similar  conditions,  and  similar  results 
will  follow.  If  attempts  are  made  to  reproduce  the 
phenomena  of  Spiritualism,  under  what  appear  to 
be  precisely  similar  conditions,  by  means  which 
have  previously  been  successful,  failure  to  obtain 
the  wished-for  results  may  very  probably  follow. 
It  is  no  use  to  rebel  and  to  feel  inclined  to  abandon 
the  pursuit  as  useless !  That  would  be  most  un- 
scientific 1  The  inquirer  finds  himself  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  subtle  elusive  influence,  which  he  seems 
unable  to  control,  and  which  refuses  to  submit  to 
the  laws  which  govern  physical  experiments.  On 
the  other  hand,  perseverance  may  be  richly  re- 
warded. An  unexplored  field  of  scientific  research 
of  unlimited  extent  may  open  itself  to  view.  Some- 
thing of  that  joy  may  be  experienced  which  the 
search  into  the  unknown  alone  can  give. 

Mr.  Arthur  James  Balfour,  in  an  address  on  the 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

occasion  of  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Royal  Literary 
Fund,  in  1893,  said: — 

"  My  friend,  Lord  Kelvin,  has  often  talked  to  me 
of  the  future  of  science,  and  he  has  said  words  to 
me  about  the  future  of  science  which  are  parallel 
with  the  words  I  have  quoted  to  you  about  the 
future  of  art,  and  with  the  hope  which  I  have 
expressed  to  you  with  respect  to  literature.  He 
has  told  me  that  to  the  men  of  science  of  to-day 
it  appears  as  if  we  were  trembling  on  the  brink  of 
some  great  scientific  discovery  which  should  give 
to  us  a  new  view  of  the  great  forces  of  Nature, 
among  which  and  in  the  midst  of  which  we  move. 
If  this  prophecy  be  right,  and  if  the  other  forecasts 
to  which  I  have  alluded  be  right,  then  indeed  it 
is  true  that  we  live  in  an  interesting  age;  then 
indeed  it  is  true  that  we  may  look  forward  to  a 
time  full  of  fruit  for  the  human  race — to  an  age 
which  cannot  be  sterilised  or  rendered  barren  even 
by  politics." 

There  are  some  advantages  which  the  study  of 
this  subject  possesses  over  most  branches  of  scientific 
inquiry.  In  its  present  early  and  incomplete  stage 
the  most  important  thing  is  the  accumulation  of 
carefully  observed  and  recorded  facts.  Even  as 
regards  Thought-Transference,  in  which  the  number 
of  careful  experiments  that  have  been  made  is  far 
greater  than  in  any  other  class  of  phenomena,  it  is 
still  most  important  to  multiply  the  quantity  of  the 
evidence.  In  most  of  the  branches  of  the  subject 
no  expensive  apparatus  is  required,  and  no  special 
scientific  or  intellectual  training.  Accurate  obser- 
vation and  careful  recording,  at  the  time,  of  all  that 


14  SPIRITUALISM 

occurs,  without  prejudice,  and  without  discourage- 
ment at  apparent  failure,  are  the  chief  requisites. 
Any  person,  or  small  group  of  persons  of  ordinary 
intelligence,  can  train  themselves  to  be  equal  to 
this.  A  very  simple  instance  occurred  in  the 
earliest  experiences  of  the  writer.  After  three  or 
four  sittings  round  a  small  table  with  two  friends, 
at  which  there  was  meaningless  tipping,  and  nothing 
better  than  commonplace  sentences,  the  following 
was  tipped  out :  "  Try  no  more  to  move  " — then  this 
succession  of  letters — "  a  t  a  t  a."  It  seemed  use- 
less to  go  on  with  nonsense,  but  one  of  the  party 
suggested  perseverance ;  when  the  following  conclu- 
sion converted  seeming  nonsense  into  sense :  ''  b  1  e 
take  a  pencil  and  write."  The  result  was  that  one 
of  the  party  rapidly  developed  into  an  interesting 
automatic  writer. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  foretell  the  extent  of  the 
aid  that  may  not  be  given,  in  the  explanation  of  some 
of  these  phenomena,  by  the  persevering  experiments 
of  intelligent  inquirers. 

In  the  following  chapters  facts  relating  to  several 
different  kinds  of  phenomena  are  put  before  the 
reader,  as  to  which  the  guarantee  of  authenticity 
and  the  quality  of  the  evidence  are  both  unim- 
peachable. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  travel  all  over  the  world  in 
search  of  evidence ;  the  illustrations  will  be  drawn 
almost  entirely  from  home  sources.  With  all  due 
respect  to  friends  in  distant  parts,  it  will  doubtless 
be  a  satisfaction  to  some  readers  to  know  that  in 
these  pages  they  will  not  meet  with  Mrs.  Piper  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  with  Eusapia  Paladino  on  the  other. 


INTRODUCTORY     •  15 

With  these  few  introductory  remarks  a  calm  and 
dispassionate  consideration  of  the  evidence  presented 
is  invited.  First  of  all,  three  classes  of  phenomena 
will  be  taken  up  in  the  following  order: — 

(1)  The  Movement  of  Objects  without  any  appa- 
rent Physical  Cause. 

(2)  The  Production  of  Sound  without  any  appa- 
rent Physical  Cause. 

(3)  The  Production  of  Light  without  any  apparent 
Physical  Cause. 

Two  chapters  will  then  be  devoted  to  a  study  of 
the  phenomena  exhibited  in  the  lives  of  two  of  the 
most  noted  ''mediums''  of  modern  times — Daniel 
Dunglas  Home  and  William  Stainton  Moses.  Both 
present  manifestations  of  phenomena  belonging  to 
the  three  classes  above-named,  as  well  as  striking 
examples  of  other  kinds.  A  chapter  on  the  ''Divining 
Kod"  will  follow.  Then  a  chapter  on  one  of  the 
forms  of  Thought-Transference,  one  which  allows 
of  its  being  included  among  physical  phenomena. 
Two  brief  chapters  will  come  next  on  "Spirit 
Photography "  and  on  "  Materialisations."  It  is 
explained  that  these  are  included,  not  because  of 
any  scientific  evidence  in  their  favour  which  can 
be  quoted,  but  because  of  the  extreme  interest 
and  importance  of  the  subjects  themselves,  and  also 
because  the  strong  testimony  and  moral  evidence 
in  support  of  their  reality  seem  to  promise  a 
tempting  field  for  the  scientific  explorer,  and  to 
warrant  a  confident  belief  that  the  evidence  he 
desires  will  be  forthcoming.  In  a  final  chapter 
an  endeavour  is  made  to  sum  up  results  and 
conclusions. 


16  SPIRITUALISM 


CHAPTER   II 


THE  MOVEMENT  OF   OBJECTS  WITHOUT  ANY 
APPARENT   PHYSICAL   CAUSE 

The  Committee  of  the  Dialectical  Society 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  first  systematic  or 
scientific  attempt  to  investigate  the  alleged  pheno- 
menon of  the  movement  of  objects  without  any 
apparent  physical  cause  was  made  by  the  London 
Dialectical  Society  in  the  year  1869.  On  the 
motion  of  Dr.  James  Edmunds,  a  Committee  was 
appointed  "  to  investigate  the  Phenomena  alleged 
to  be  Spiritual  Manifestations,  and  to  report 
thereon.''  The  names  of  twenty-eight  members 
were  proposed.  Three  of  these  declined  to  act. 
Eight  more  names  were  added,  so  that  the  Com- 
mittee, as  finally  constituted,  consisted  of  thirty- 
three,  three  of  whom  were  ladies.  Among  the 
best-known  names  were  H.  G.  Atkinson,  F.G.S. ; 
Charles  Bradlaugh;  E.  W.  Cox,  serjeant-at-law; 
Rev.  C.  Maurice  Davies,  D.D. ;  Charles  R.  Drysdale, 
M.D. ;  James  Edmunds,  M.D. ;  Robert  Hannah ; 
H.  D.  Jencken,  barrister-at-law ;  William  Volck- 
man;  and  Dr.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  F.R.S.  It 
is  believed  that  Robert  Hannah  and  Dr.  Alfred 
Russel  Wallace  are  the  only  survivors. 

In  order  to  investigate  the  phenomena  in 
question  by  personal  experiment  and  test,  the 
Committee  resolved  itself  into  six  Sub-Committees. 
In  May  1870  the  Committee  appointed  an  Editing 


THE    MOVEMENT    OF    OBJECTS  17 

Committee  to  prepare  a  joint  report,  based  solely 
on  the  evidence  that  had  been  before  it.  A  month 
later  the  Editing  Committee  presented  a  draft 
report,  which  with  some  trifling  verbal  alterations 
was  adopted  nem  dis.  A  resolution  was  then 
carried  that  a  copy  be  forwarded  to  the  Council 
of  the  Dialectical  Society,  with  a  recommendation 
that  it  be  printed  and  published.  This  the  Council 
declined  to  do.  Upon  this  the  Committee  met  and 
passed  the  following  resolution : — 

"That  the  Report  be  referred  to  the  Editing 
Committee,  and  that  they  be  requested  to  pre- 
pare it  for  publication,  together  with  any  supple- 
mentary or  counter  reports  that  may  be  received 
from  members  of  the  Committee,  and  appending 
thereto  the  reports  of  the  Sub-Committees,  and 
the  evidence,  oral  and  verbal,  that  has  been  col- 
lected ;  the  entire  work,  when  ready  for  publication, 
to  be  submitted  for  approval  to  the  Committee."  ^ 

Such  is  the  origin  of  the  volume  from  which 
the  following  extracts  are  made.^  Considerations 
of  space  necessitate  dealing  with  the  work  of  one 
Sub-Committee  only.  The  essential  part  of  the 
Report  of  Sub-Committee  No.  1  is  as  follows : — 

"Since  their  appointment  on  the  16th  of  Feb- 
ruary 1869,  your  Sub-Committee  have  held  forty 
meetings  for  the  purpose  of  experiment  and  test. 

"  All  of  these  meetings  were  held  at  the  private 


1  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  London  Dialectical  Society, 
p.  228. 

^  Report  on  Spiritualism  of  the  Committee  of  the  London 
Dialectical  Society,  together  with  the  Evidence,  Oral  and  Written, 
and  a  Selection  from  the  Correspondence.  Two  editions  have  been 
published.     Both  are  out  of  print. 

B 


18  SPIRITUALISM 

residences  of  members  of  the  Committee,  pur- 
posely to  preclude  the  possibility  of  pre-arranged 
mechanism  or  contrivance. 

"The  furniture  of  the  room  in  which  the  ex- 
periments were  conducted  was  on  every  occasion 
its  accustomed  furniture. 

"  The  tables  were  in  all  cases  heavy  dining- 
tables,  requiring  a  strong  eifort  to  move  them. 
The  smallest  of  them  was  5  feet  9  inches  long  by 
4  feet  wide  .  .  .  and  of  proportionate  weight. 

"  The  rooms,  tables,  and  furniture  generally  were 
repeatedly  subjected  to  careful  examination  before, 
during,  and  after  the  experiments,  to  ascertain  that 
no  concealed  machinery,  instrument,  or  other  con- 
trivance existed  by  means  of  which  the  sounds  or 
movements  hereinafter  mentioned  could  be  caused. 

'*The  experiments  were  conducted  in  the  light 
of  gas,  except  on  the  few  occasions  specially  noted 
in  the  minutes. 

"Your  Committee  have  avoided  the  employ- 
ment of  professional  or  paid  mediums,  the  medium- 
ship  being  that  of  members  of  your  Sub-Committee, 
persons  of  good  social  position  and  of  unimpeach- 
able integrity,  having  no  pecuniary  object  to  serve, 
and  nothing  to  gain  by  deception. 

"  Your  Committee  have  confined  their  Report  to 
fads  witnessed  by  them  in  their  collective  capacity, 
which  facts  were  jpalpaUe  to  the  senses^  and  their  reality 
capable  of  demoTistrative  proof 

"  The  result  of  their  long-continued  and  carefully- 
conducted    experiments,    after    trial    by    every  de- 


THE    MOVEMENT    OF    OBJECTS  19 

tective  test  they  could  devise,  has  been  to  establish 
conclusively : — 

"  First :  That  under  certain  bodily  or  mental 
conditions  of  one  or  more  of  the  persons  present, 
a  force  is  exhibited  sufficient  to  set  in  motion 
heavy  substances,  without  the  employment  of  any 
muscular  force,  without  contact  or  material  con- 
nection of  any  kind  between  such  substances  and 
the  body  of  any  person  present. 

"  Second :  That  this  force  can  cause  sounds  to 
proceed,  distinctly  audible  to  all  present,  from  solid 
substances  not  in  contact  with,  nor  having  any 
visible  or  material  connection  with,  the  body  of 
any  person  present,  and  which  sounds  are  proved 
to  proceed  from  such  substances  by  the  vibrations 
which  are  distinctly  felt  when  they  are  touched. 

"  Third :  That  this  force  is  frequently  directed 
by  intelligence. 

"  At  thirty-four  out  of  the  forty  meetings  of  your 
Committee  some  of  these  phenomena  occurred. 


"  In  conclusion,  your  Committee  express  their 
unanimous  opinion  that  the  one  important  physical 
fact  thus  proved  to  exist,  that  motion  may  he  'pro- 
dicced  in  solid  bodies  ivithout  material  contact,  hy  some 
hitherto  unrecognised  force  operating  within  an  unde- 
fined distance  from  the  human  organism,  and  heyond 
the  range  of  muscular  action,  should  be  subjected  to 
further  scientific  examination,  with  a  view  to  ascer- 
taining its  true  source,  nature,  and  power. ^ 

One  selection  is  now  given  from  the  Minutes  of 

^  Report,  «&c.,  pp.  7-13. 


20  SPIRITUALISM 

this  Sub-Committee,  illustrating  the  nature  of  the 
Evidence  that  came  before  them : — 

^'Experiment  XXXVIIL,  Dec.  28th  [1869]. — 
Eight  members  present.  Phenomena:  Eapping 
sounds  from  the  table  and  floor,  and  movements 
of  the  table,  with  and  without  contact.  The 
alphabet  was  repeated,  and  the  following  letters 
were  rapped  :  '  A  bad  circle — want  of  harmony.'  At 
the  letter  f,  the  table  tilted  three  times,  and  at 
the  letters  a,  r,  gave  several  forcible  horizontal 
movements,  tilting  at  either  end. 

''  Raps,  with  slight  tiltings  of  the  table,  beating 
time  to  the  measure  of  a  song.  Two  or  three 
poems  were  recited,  to  the  measure  of  which 
there  were  loud  raps  from  the  table  and  floor, 
and  the  table  also  marked  the  metre  by  various 
horizontal  movements  and  tiltings. 

''Hood's  Anatomy  Song  being  repeated  by  one 
of  the  members,  the  knocking,  rapping,  and  tilt- 
ing sounds,  with  various  horizontal,  trembling,  and 
vibratory  movements  of  the  table,  accompanied 
it,  in  exact  harmony  with  the  measure,  added  to 
which  were  strange  movements,  in  accordance 
with  the  character  of  the  verses.  In  one  in- 
stance the  table  shifted  its  position  several  feet, 
the  tips  of  the  fingers  only  being  in  contact 
with  it. 

"  Movements  without  Contact.  —  Question  : 
'  Would  the  table  now  be  moved  without  con- 
tact ? '  Answer :  '  Yes ; '  by  three  raps  on  the 
table.  All  chairs  were  then  turned  with  their 
backs  to  the  table,  and  nine  inches  away  from  it; 
and  all  present  knelt    on    the    chairs,  with    their 


THE   MOVEMENT   OE   OBJECTS  21 

wrists  resting  on  the  backs,  and  their  hands  a 
few  inches  above  the  table. 

''  Under  these  conditions,  the  table  (the  heavy 
dining-room  table  previously  described)  moved 
four  times,  each  time  from  four  to  six  inches,  and 
the  second  time  nearly  twelve  inches. 

"  Then  all  hands  were  placed  on  the  backs  of 
the  chairs,  and  nearly  a  foot  from  the  table,  when 
four  movements  occurred,  one  slow  and  continuous 
for  nearly  a  minute. 

"  Then  all  present  placed  their  hands  behind  their 
backs,  kneeling  erect  on  their  chairs,  which  were  re- 
moved a  foot  clear  away  from  the  table.  The  gas 
also  was  turned  up  higher,  so  as  to  give  abundance 
of  light ;  and  under  these  test  conditions,  distinct 
movements  occurred,  to  the  extent  of  several  inches 
each  time,  and  visible  to  every  one  present. 

"  The  motions  were  in  various  directions,  towards 
all  parts  of  the  room — some  were  abrupt,  others 
steady.  At  the  same  time,  and  under  the  same  con- 
ditions, distinct  raps  occurred,  apparently  both  on  the 
floor  and  on  the  table,  in  answer  to  requests  for  them. 

"  The  above-described  movements  were  so  un- 
mistakable, that  all  present  unhesitatingly  declared 
their  conviction,  that  no  physical  force,  exerted  by 
any  one  present,  could  possibly  have  produced 
them;  and  they  declared  further,  in  writing,  that 
a  rigid  examination  of  the  table  showed  it  to  be 
an  ordinary  dining-table,  with  no  machinery  or 
apparatus  of  any  kind  connected  with  it.  The 
table  was  laid  on  the  floor  with  its  legs  up,  and 
taken  to  pieces  so  far  as  practicable."  ^ 

1  Report,  &c.,  pp.  390-391. 


22  SPIRITUALISM 


Testimony  of  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S.,  Professor 
OF  Physics  in  the  Royal  College  of 
Science  for  Ireland. 

No  endeavour  appears  to  have  been  made  by  any 
of  the  members  of  the  Committee  of  the  Dialectical 
Society  to  follow  up  the  results  which  they  had 
obtained.  The  individual  members  who  had  pre- 
viously been  active  in  such  matters  continued  to 
take  an  interest  in  them,  but  there  is  no  evidence 
that  a  single  new  inquirer  was  gained.  The  next 
event  of  any  importance,  in  the  direction  of  scientific 
inquiry  into  the  subject,  was  the  reading  by  Pro- 
fessor W.  F.  Barrett  of  a  paper  before  the  meeting 
of  the  British  Association  at  Glasgow  in  1876. 
This  paper  was  entitled  "  On  Some  Phenomena 
Associated  with  Abnormal  Conditions  of  Mind,"  and 
dealt  mainly  with  what  was  subsequently  desig- 
nated "  Thought-Transference/'  Professor  Barrett 
also  referred  to  some  "  physical  phenomena  "  which 
had  come  under  his  notice.  He  says :  ''  I  am 
bound  to  mention  a  case  that  came  under  my  own 
repeated  observation,  wherein  certain  inexplicable 
physical  phenomena  occurred  in  broad  daylight, 
and  for  which  I  could  find  no  satisfactory  solution 
either  on  the  ground  of  hallucination  or  fraud."  i 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research  in  1886,  entitled  "On  Some  Physical 
Phenomena  commonly  termed  Spiritualistic,  wit- 
nessed by  the  Author,"  Professor  Barrett  describes 
in  detail  the  phenomena  he  referred  to  in  the  paper 

^  Prooeedi'tigs  S.P.R.^  vol.  i.  p.  240 


THE    MOVEMENT    OF   OBJECTS  23 

read  ten  years  previously  at  the  British  Associa- 
tion, and  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
occurred.  The  following  paragraphs  give  the  im- 
portant features  i^ — 

Mr.  C,  a  solicitor,  with  his  wife  and  family,  had 
come  to  reside  for  the  season  in  the  suburban  house 
of  a  friend  and  neighbour  of  Professor  Barrett's. 
He  was  an  Irish  country  gentleman  who  had  an 
utter  disbelief  in  spiritualism.  Professor  Barrett 
was  therefore  not  a  little  amused  on  making 
Mr.  C/s  acquaintance,  to  find  that  he  had  in  his  own 
family  what  appeared  to  be  spiritualistic  phenomena 
then  and  there  going  on.  Mr.  C.  gave  Professor 
Barrett  every  opportunity  of  close  and  frequent 
investigation.  The  sittings  extended  through  the 
months  of  August  and  September  1875.  There 
were  present  besides  Professor  Barrett,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  C,  and  their  young  daughter  Florrie,  a  bright, 
frank,  intelligent  child,  then  about  ten  years  old. 
They  sat  at  a  large  dining-room  table,  facing  French 
windows,  which  let  in  a  flood  of  sunlight.  Shortly, 
scraping  sounds,  raps,  and  noises  resembling  the 
hammering  of  small  nails,  were  heard.  Florrie's 
hands  and  feet  were  closely  watched,  and  were 
observed  to  be  absolutely  motionless  when  the 
sounds  Avere  heard.  Besides  knocks,  there  were 
occasional  movements  of  the  furniture.  Seated  one 
day  at  a  large  dining-room  table  in  full  sunlight, 
Florrie,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C,  and  Professor  Barrett 
being  the  persons  present,  all  their  fingers  visibly 
resting  on  the  surface  of  the  table,  three  legs  of 
the  table  rose  off  the  ground  to  a  sufficient  height 

1  See  Proceedings  S.P.H.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  29-33. 


24  SPIRITUALISM 

to  allow  Professor  Barrett  to  put  his  foot  easily 
beneath  the  castor  nearest  him.  The  importance 
of  the  comparatively  small  amount  of  "  movement " 
phenomena  in  this  case  is  increased  by  their  associa- 
tion with  ''  sound  "  phenomena  of  great  variety  and 
frequency.  These  will  be  fully  described  in  the 
next  chapter. 

Another  case  which  Professor  Barrett  cites  in  the 
same  paper  may  be  thus  summarised  as  far  as 
phenomena  of  movement  are  concerned  :  -^ — 

The  sitters  were  Mr.  L.,  a  well-known  photo- 
grapher in  Dublin,  his  niece,  Miss  I.,  and  Professor 
Barrett.  While  noticing  the  raps  and  knocks,  Pro- 
fessor Barrett  observed  a  frequent  uneasy  movement 
of  the  entire  table,  which  was  a  moderately  large  and 
heavy  one,  four  feet  square.  It  sidled  about  in  a 
most  surprising  manner.  Lifting  their  hands  com- 
pletely off  the  table,  the  sitters  placed  themselves 
back  in  their  chairs,  with  their  hands  folded  across 
their  chests.  Their  feet  were  in  full  view.  Under 
these  conditions,  and  in  obedience  to  Professor 
Barrett's  request,  the  table  raised  the  two  legs 
nearest  to  him  off  the  ground  eight  or  ten  inches, 
and  then  suspended  itself  for  a  few  moments.  A 
similar  act  was  performed  on  the  other  side.  Then 
a  very  unexpected  occurrence  happened.  To  quote 
Professor  Barrett's  own  words : — 

"  Whilst  absolutely  free  from  the  contact  of  any 
person,  the  table  wriggled  itself  backward  and  for- 
ward, advancing  towards  the  armchair  in  which  I 
satj  and  ultimately  completely  imprisoning  me  in  my 

1  See  Proceedings  S.P.lly  vol.  iv.  pp.  33-35. 


THE    MOVEMENT    OJF   OBJECTS  25 

seat.  During  its  progress  it  was  followed  by  Mr.  L. 
and  Miss  L,  but  they  were  at  no  time  touching  it, 
and  occasionally  were  so  distant  that  I  could  perceive 
a  free  space  all  round  the  table  whilst  it  was  still  in 
motion.  When  thus  under  my  very  nose,  the  table 
rose  repeatedly,  and  enabled  me  to  be  perfectly  sure, 
by  the  evidence  of  touch,  that  it  was  off  the  ground, 
and  further,  that  no  human  being,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  had  any  part  in  this  movement." 

Professor  Barrett,  with  his  accustomed  caution, 
comments  thus : — 

"  The  results,  it  is  true,  were  very  remarkable  and 
unaccountable ;  but  though  I  had  not  the  slightest 
doubt  of  the  good  faith  of  Mr.  L.  and  Miss  I.,  yet  I 
do  not  adduce  this  evidence  as  unexceptionable.  I 
should  have  preferred  to  have  taken  precautions 
which  were  not  so  easy  to  impose  on  a  lady,  and  I 
should  also  have  preferred  to  have  had  the  seance 
at  my  own  house." 

This  latter  objection  was  met  by  Mr.  L.  and 
Miss  I.  going  to  Professor  Barrett's  house  shortly 
afterwards,  no  one  else  besides  Professor  Barrett 
being  present.  Some  remarkable  sounds  were  again 
heard.  Then,  this  happened — again  quoting  Pro- 
fessor Barrett's  own  words : — 

"  Suddenly,  only  the  tips  of  our  fingers  being  on 
the  table,  the  heavy  loo-table  at  which  we  were 
sitting  made  a  series  of  very  violent  prancing  move- 
ments (which  I  could  not  imitate  afterwards  except 
by  using  both  hands  and  all  my  strength);  the 
blows  were  so  heavy  that  I  hurriedly  stopped  the 
performance,  fearing  for  the  safety  of  the  gas  chan- 
delier   in    the    room   below.     Here,    too,    I  cannot 


26  SPIRITUALISM 

avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  phenomena  described 
are  inexpUcable  on  any  known  hypothesis. ' 

After  discounting  the  ''pious  platitudes"  spelt 
out  by  the  tilts  of  the  table,  and  the  possibility, 
and  even  probability,  that  "  unintentional  muscular 
movements"  were  the  cause  of  these,  and  after 
recognising  the  impossibility  of  keeping  up  a  con- 
tinuous vigilant  watch  on  the  hands  and  feet  of  any 
person,  and  after  supposing  that  Miss  I.  had  some 
ingenious  mechanism  concealed  about  her  person, 
whereby  she  could  produce  the  sounds  that  were 
heard,  Professor  Barrett  says :  ''  This  would  fail 
to  account  for  the  undoubted  motion  of  a  heavy 
table,  free  from  the  contact  of  all  present.  After 
giving  due  weight  to  every  known  explanation,  the 
phenomena  remain  inexplicable  to  me/' 

Testimony  Collected  by  Fkederic  W.  H.  Myers. 

Next  in  order  of  time  come  two  papers  by  Mr.  F. 
W.  H.  Myers,  under  the  title  of  '*  Alleged  Move- 
ments of  Objects  without  Contact,,  occurring  not  in 
the  Presence  of  a  Paid  Medium."  They  are  pub- 
lished in  vol.  vii.  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research.^  The  first  article  goes  over 
most  of  the  ground  traversed  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  chapter,  but  devotes  twenty  lines  only  to  the 
Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Dialectical  Society, 
and  refers  only  to  Professor  Barrett's  cases  as  having 
been  already  published.  A  number  of  other  cases 
are,  however,  described  in  detail.  The  evidence  in 
these  scarcely  comes  up  to  the  level  of  scientific, 

1  Vol.  vii.  pp.  146-198  and  pp.  383-394. 


THE    MOVEMENT    OF    OBJECTS  27 

and  unless  it  had  been  sifted  by  so  careful  a  critic 
as  Mr.  Myers,  who  convinced  himself  of  the  reality 
of  the  facts,  could  hardly  be  considered  of  much 
value.  The  two  following  cases  in  the  first  article 
present  the  strongest  evidence. 

(1)  The  Armstrong  Case. — Mr.  George  Allman 
Armstrong,  of  8  Leeson  Place,  Dublin,  and  Ardna- 
carrig,  Bandon,  writes  an  account  dated  13  th  June 
1887.  After  vouching  for  the  perfect  good  faith 
of  the  small  group  of  experimenters,  he  describes 
in  detail  the  movements  of  a  table.  The  "  rising  " 
was  generally  preceded  by  a  continuous  fusillade  of 
"  knocks "  in  the  substance  of  the  table.  When 
the  knocks  had,  as  it  were,  reached  a  climax,  the 
table  slowly  swayed  from  side  to  side  like  a  pen- 
dulum. It  would  stop  completely,  and  then,  as  if 
imbued  with  life,  and  quite  suddenly,  would  rise 
completely  off  the  floor  to  a  height  of  twelve  or 
fourteen  inches  at  least.  It  nearly  always  came 
down  with  immense  force,  and  on  several  occasions 
proved  destructive  to  itself,  as  the  broken  limbs  of 
the  table  used  at  Kinsale  could  testify.  The  table 
was  a  round,  rather  heavy  walnut  one,  with  a  central 
column  standing  on  three  claw  legs.  Mr.  Arm- 
strong says  that  on  several  occasions  he  succeeded 
in  raising  the  table  without  contact.  It  rose  to  the 
fingers  held  over  it  at  a  height  of  several  inches, 
like  the  keeper  of  a  strong  electro-magnet.^ 

(2)  A  Bell-ringing  Case. — Mr.  Myers,  in  intro- 
ducing this  case,  says :  "  The  usual  hypotheses  of 
fraud,  rats,  hitched  wires,  &c.,  seem  hard  to  apply. 
The  care  and  fulness  with  which  it  has  been  re- 

^  For  full  account  see  Proceedings  S.P.Jl.^  vol.  vii.  pp.  169-160. 


28  SPIRITUALISM 

corded  will  enable  the  reader  to  judge  for  himself 
more  easily  than  in  most  narratives  of  this  type. 
Our  informant  is  a  gentleman  [Mr.  D.],  occupying 
a  responsible  position ;  his  name  may  be  given  to 
inquirers/'  ^  The  detailed  report  of  the  occurrences 
occupies  no  less  than  twelve  pages,  the  greater  part 
of  which  consists  of  a  long  letter  addressed  by  Mr. 
D.  to  the  Society  for  Psychical  Kesearch.  He  ex- 
plains that  he  is  writing  in  the  main  from  notes 
taken  at  the  time  and  not  from  memory.  The 
following  is  an  abstract : — 

On  Friday,  23rd  September  1887,  he  took 
his  four  pupils  to  a  circus,  his  lady  housekeeper 
also  going,  leaving  two  servants  at  home.  They 
left  at  about  2  p.m.  All  but  himself  returned 
about  5.30  p.m.  The  two  servants  were  on  the 
doorstep,  telling  the  boys  not  to  go  in  by  the  area 
door — the  kitchens  being  below  ground — and  ex- 
plaining that  all  the  bells  were  ringing  violently,  no 
one  touching  them,  and  that  they  had  been  doing 
so  almost  ever  since  half-past  two.  When  the 
master  of  the  house  came  home,  he  found  the  same 
state  of  things,  the  servants  almost  in  hysterics  and 
the  bells  ringing.  Nine  bells  hung  in  a  row  just 
inside  the  area  door,  opposite  the  kitchen  door,  and 
there  was  one  bell — a  call  bell — on  the  landing  at 
the  top  of  the  house. 

Mr.  D.  frequently  saw  several  of  these  bells  ring- 
ing at  once,  the  ringing  being  sudden  and  very 
violent,  louder,  he  believed,  than  they  could  be  rung 
by  pulling  the  handles.  One  bell  was  more  than 
once  pulled  over,  so  that  it  could  not  return  to  its 

^  Proceedings  S.F.R.,  vol.  vii.  p.  160. 


THE   MOVEMENT    OF    OBJECTS  29 

normal  position.  Several  of  the  upstairs  bells  had 
no  bell-pulls.  The  bellhanger  was  several  times 
summoned  to  the  premises.  He  showed  that  the 
wires  could  not  have  been  entangled,  and  entirely 
agreed  that  it  would  be  an  utter  impossibility  for 
any  animals,  such  as  cats  or  rats,  to  ring  the  bells 
as  they  were  rung.  The  house  was  quite  a  new 
one,  standing  alone,  surrounded  by  unoccupied 
plots  of  building  land. 

As  to  the  question  of  trickery.  There  seemed 
no  possibility  of  that  being  the  explanation.  The 
phenomena  occurred  when  the  housekeeper  and 
pupils  were  all  away ;  also  when  the  cook  was  away ; 
also  when  only  the  two  servants  and  the  master 
were  in  the  house,  and  both  of  them  in  his  sight. 
For  instance,  he  says  he  stood  in  the  passage  in 
front  of  the  nine  bells  watching  them  ring,  with 
both  the  servants  close  by.  Once  in  particular  he 
watched  the  housemaid  on  her  knees  in  the  middle 
of  the  wash-house  scrubbing  the  tiles,  while  the 
front  door,  area  door,  and  bath-room  bells  were 
pealing  violently.  The  ringing  was  also  heard  by 
tradesmen,  and  by  men  working  in  the  gardens  near. 
The  wires  of  the  bells  were  distinctly  moved,  not 
only  the  bells  and  the  clappers.  The  bell-handles 
were  never  observed  to  be  moved.  The  ringing 
lasted  between  three  and  four  weeks,  and  then 
ceased.  Knockings  in  considerable  variety  were 
also  heard,  and  a  few  cases  of  the  movement  of 
chairs  and  small  articles,  without  any  contact,  also 
occurred. 

Mr.  D.  was  at  one  time  disposed  to  think  that 
the  housemaid  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the 


30  SPIRITUALISM 

disturbances,  but  he  could  trace  no  evidence.  She 
was  a  young  girl  who  had  not  been  out  to  service 
before.  She  got  into  such  a  state  of  nervous  ex- 
citement about  the  occurrences,  that  brain  fever 
or  something  serious  was  feared.  She  had  only- 
been  in  the  house  a  few  weeks  previous  to  the 
commencement  of  the  manifestations,  and  nothing 
occurred  after  she  left.  Mr.  D.  was,  however, 
perfectly  convinced  that  she  had  nothing  to  do 
voluntarily  with  the  bell-ringing.-^ 

The  second  paper  by  Mr.  Myers  is  devoted 
exclusively  to  some  '•'  strange  experiences "  which 
occurred  several  years  previous  to  1891,  at  the 
village  of  Swanland,  a  few  miles  from  Hull,  in  the 
East  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  The  evidence  is  that  of 
John  Bristow,  who  states  he  was  an  eye-witness. 
There  were  no  intellectual  phenomena,  nothing  but 
the  apparently  meaningless  throwing  about  of  pieces 
of  wood — directed,  however,  by  some  intelligence,  so 
as  to  attract  attention  without  doing  harm.  Here 
again  what  value  the  case  has  rests  almost  solely 
on  its  having  received  the  critical  study  of  Mr. 
Myers.^ 

^  See  the  full  account  in  Part  XIX.  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
S.P.M.,  which  part  is  included  in  vol.  vii.,  and  may  be  obtained 
separately  for  2s.  6d. 

2  See  Proceedings  S.P.E.,  vol.  vii.  pp.  383-394. 


THE   PRODUCTION    OF   SOUND  31 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   PRODUCTION   OF   SOUND    WITHOUT  ANY 
APPARENT   PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

If  the  tipping  of  small  tables  when  the  hands  of 
the  sitters  are  in  contact  is  excepted — under  which 
circumstances  it  is  generally  impossible  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  result  is  psychical,  or  due  merely 
to  muscular  action  unconsciously  exercised — the 
production  of  raps  and  other  sounds  is  the  most 
frequent  of  the  phenomena  under  consideration. 
They  are,  however,  generally  so  intermixed  with 
other  phenomena  that  it  is  difficult  to  treat  them 
separately. 

The  Dialectical  Society. 

In  the  extracts  from  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Dialectical  Society  given  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  it  will  be  remembered  that  raps 
and  other  noises  are  referred  to  as  being  frequently 
heard,  and  also  as  apparently  produced  by  an  in- 
telHgent  agency. 

Testimony  of  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S. 

The  reader  is  asked  to  refer  to  the  general  con- 
ditions of  the  case  of  Mr.  C.  testified  to  by  Professor 
Barrett  in  the  previous  chapter.     He  says : — 

"  They  (the  sounds)  came  more  readily  and  more 
loudly  when  music  was  played,  or  a  merry  song 
struck  up.     Usually  they  kept  time  with  the  music. 


82  SPIRITUALISM 

and  altogether  displayed  a  singular  degree  of  intelli- 
gence. Sometimes  a  loud  rhythmic  scraping,  as  of 
a  violoncello  bow  on  a  piece  of  wood,  would  accom- 
pany the  music.  Again  and  again  I  placed  my  ear 
on  the  very  spot  on  the  table  whence  this  rough 
fiddling  appeared  to  proceed,  and  felt  distinctly  the 
rhythmic  vibration  of  the  table,  but  no  tangible 
cause  was  visible  either  above  or  below  the  table. 
...  On  one  occasion,  when  no  one  else  was  in  the 
room,  ...  I  asked  my  young  friend  the  medium 
to  put  her  hands  against  the  wall,  and  see  how  far 
she  could  stretch  her  feet  back  from  the  wall  with- 
out tumbling  down.  This  she  did,  and  whilst  in 
this  constrained  position — with  the  muscles  of  arms 
and  legs  all  in  tension — I  asked  for  the  knocks  to 
come.  Immediately  a  brisk  pattering  of  raps  fol- 
lowed my  request.  All  the  while  the  child  re- 
mained quite  motionless.  My  reason  in  making 
this  experiment  was  to  test  the  late  Dr.  Carpenter's 
muscular  theory  of  the  cause  of  the  sounds.  Had 
Dr.  Carpenter  been  present,  I  feel  sure  he  would 
have  adjnitted  that  here  at  any  rate  that  theory  fell 
through."  ^ 

Professor  Barrett  sums  up  his  conclusions  on  this 
case  thus: — 

"  A  long  and  careful  examination  convinced  me 
that  trickery  on  the  part  of  the  child  was  a  more 
improbable  hypothesis  than  that  the  sounds  pro- 
ceeded from  some  unknown  agency.  Nor  could  the 
sounds  be  accounted  for  by  trickery  on  the  part  of 
the  servants  in  the  house,  for  in  addition  to  my 
careful  inquiries  on  this  point,  Mr.  C.  informed  me 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  29-30. 


THE   PRODUCTION    OF   SOUND  33 

that  he  had  obtained  the  raps  on  the  handle  of  his 
umbrella  out  of  doors,  when  the  child  was  by  his 
side ;  and  that  the  music-master  complained  of  raps 
proceeding  from  inside  the  piano  whenever  the  child 
was  listless  or  inattentive  at  her  music  lesson.  Mrs. 
C.  told  me  that  almost  every  night  she  heard  the 
raps  by  the  bedside  of  the  child  when  she  went  to 
bid  her  good-night ;  and  that  after  she  had  left  the 
room  and  partially  closed  the  door,  she  would  hear 
quite  an  animated  conversation  going  on  between 
her  daughter  and  her  invisible  companion,  the  child 
rapidly  spelling  over  the  alphabet,  and  the  raps 
occurring  at  the  right  letters,  and  the  child  thus 
obtaining  with  surprising  rapidity  a  clue  to  the 
words  spelt  out. 

"  Still  more  violently  improbable  is  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  parents  of  the  child  were  at  the 
bottom  of  the  mystery,  stimulated  by  a  desire 
to  impress  their  friends  with  the  wonderful  but 
imaginary  gifts  their  child  possessed.  The  pre- 
sence of  the  parents  was  not  necessary  for  the 
occurrence  of  the  sounds,  which,  as  I  have  said, 
often  took  place  when  I  was  the  only  person  in  the 
room  besides  the  child. 

"  Hallucination  was  the  explanation  which  sug- 
gested itself  to  my  own  mind  when  first  I  heard  of 
the  phenomena,  but  was  dismissed  as  wholly  in- 
applicable after  the  first  day's  inquiry;  nor  do  I 
think  that  any  one  could  maintain  that  different 
people,  individually  and  collectively,  for  some  weeks, 
thought  they  heard  and  saw  a  series  of  sounds  and 
motions  which  had  no  objective  existence. 

"  No !  I  was  then,  and  am  still,  morally  certain 

c 


34  SPIRITUALISM 

that  the  phenomena  had  a  real  existence  outside 
oneself,  and  that  they  were  not  produced  by  trickery 
or  by  known  causes.  Hence  I  could  come  to  no 
other  conclusion  than  that  we  had  here  a  class  of 
phenomena  wholly  new  to  science."  ^ 

After  some  three  months  the  sounds  ceased  as 
unexpectedly  as  they  had  commenced. 

There  is  one  form  of  sound  manifestation  to 
which  no  allusion  has  been  made — what  is  called 
the  "  Direct  Voice.*'  It  is  alleged  to  be  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  spiritualistic  circles.  Articulate  words 
are,  it  is  stated,  spoken  "  direct,"  not  through  the 
voice  organs  of  any  person  present.  The  pheno- 
menon, so  far  as  I  have  heard,  occurs  only  in  dark- 
ness— and  is  an  objective  voice  audible  alike  to 
every  one  present.  It  corresponds  to  the  pheno- 
menon of  "  direct  writing."  But  no  attempt  that 
I  am  aware  of  has  been  made  to  treat  the  matter 
scientifically.  One  of  the  earliest  alleged  occur- 
rences of  this  phenomenon  took  place  in  London, 
at  a  private  seance  at  which  I  was  present  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Thos.  Everitt,  who  departed  this  life 
in  August  of  last  year,  and  who  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  London  spiritualists,  Mrs.  Everitt 
being  the  medium.  Some  little  time  later,  at  a 
similar  seance  at  the  same  house,  the  sitting  was 
terminated  by  the  singing  of  a  hymn  by  three  or 
four  soft,  gentle  voices,  purporting  to  be  "  direct " 
voices,  which  sounded  as  if  they  proceeded  from 
the  top  of  the  room  close  to  the  ceiling.  They 
were  certainly  not  the  voices  of  any  of  the  company 
present.     It  was   one   of  the   most    beautiful    and 

*  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  iv.  p.  31, 


THE    APPEARANCE    OF    LIGHT  35 

touching  manifestations  I  ever  experienced.  I  can 
only  conapare  it  to  the  singing  of  a  choir  of  boys' 
voices,  high  up  out  of  sight  in  Truro  Cathedral, 
which  I  had  heard  many  years  before.  The  seances 
at  Mr.  Everitt's  were  conducted  in  an  exclusively 
religious  tone,  and  afforded  no  opportunity  for 
obtaining  scientific  evidence.  It  is  much  to  be 
desired  that  a  careful  inquiry  should  be  made  into 
the  reality  of  so  interesting  a  phenomenon. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE  APPEARANCE   OF  LIGHT   WITHOUT   ANY 
APPARENT   PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

The  appearance  of  Lights  at  Spiritualistic  circles, 
apparently  not  due  to  any  physical  cause,  is  very 
widely  asserted.  The  character  of  the  Lights  is  as 
varied  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine.  Faint,  cloudy, 
indefinite  luminous  appearances  —  brilliant  stars 
which  move  or  hover  among  the  sitters — globes 
or  balls  of  light,  like  illuminated  ostrich  eggs,  or 
spheres  of  mother-of-pearl  lit  up  from  within — 
pillars  of  light — are  some  of  the  many  forms  which 
this  manifestation  takes.  But  anything  approach- 
ing to  scientific  evidence  of  the  reality  of  the  pheno- 
menon is  singularly  scarce.  And  I  am  not  aware 
that  anything  has  ever  been  done  towards  testing 
or  endeavouring  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  light. 
One  reason  for  this  is,  no  doubt,  that  to  investigate 
light   phenomena,  the    exclusion   of  other   light   is 


36  SPIRITUALISM 

obviously  requisite.  Hence  the  necessity  for  dark 
seances.  The  objection  to  a  dark  seance  in  itself 
can  of  course  have  no  scientific  basis.  But  a 
strong  feeling  against  dark  seances  has  arisen  from 
the  abuses  to  which  they  have  led.  It  is  possible 
that  the  extent  of  the  evil  has  been  exaggerated, 
and  has  thus  produced  an  exaggerated  prejudice 
against  darkness  as  a  condition.  It  is,  however,  safe 
to  say,  that,  even  if  promiscuous  seances  are  ever 
useful  or  wise,  a  promiscuous  dark  seance  should 
never  be  sanctioned  by  an  earnest  inquirer. 

Orthodox  science  has  not  yet  condescended  to 
bestow  any  attention  on  "  spirit  lights."  I  had  the 
privilege  of  private  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Tyndall, 
and  once  acted  as  his  assistant  at  some  lectures  he 
gave  in  a  country  place.  I  remember  sending  him 
a  report  of  some  rather  remarkable  manifestations 
of  light  witnessed  at  a  private  seance  in  London, 
under  fairly  good  test-conditions.  Dr.  Tyndall  was 
at  the  time  engaged  in  some  special  optical  investi- 
gations, and  I  asked  him  to  spend  five  minutes  in 
reading  the  notes  enclosed.  Dr.  Tyndall's  reply,  in 
his  laconic,  jocular  style,  was  to  this  effect — "  I  have 
spent  five  minutes  as  you  desired,  and  it  is  a  long 
time  since  I  spent  five  minutes  so  badly ! " 

The  best  series  of  *'  light "  phenomena,  both  as 
regards  their  varied  character,  and  as  regards  the 
observers,  and  the  care  with  which  records  at  the 
time  were  made,  occurred  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  W. 
Stainton  Moses.  A  special  chapter  is  devoted  to 
his  general  experiences  later  on,  but  I  will  deal  with 
the  phenomena  of  lights  here,  and  make  this  the 
only  illustration  of  this  branch  of  the  subject.      For 


THE    APPEARANCE    OF    LIGHT  37 

the  general  credibility  of  the  W.  Stainton  Moses 
phenomena  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  opening 
paragraph  of  Chapter  VI.  The  following  pages 
are  taken,  by  way  of  either  extract  or  abstract,  from 
two  articles  on  Mr.  W.  Stainton  Moses  by  Mr.  F. 
W.  H.  Myers.  They  thus  have  the  advantage  of 
Mr.  Myers*  moral  certificate,  so  to  speak,  as  to  their 
value.  The  articles  were  published  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Kesearch.-^ 

Mr.  Stainton  Moses  says  that  the  first  occasion  on 
which  large  luminous  appearances  were  seen  at  the 
circle  consisting  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Speer  and  himself 
was  on  7th  June  1873.  They  had  become  familiar 
with  floating  masses  of  luminous  vapour;  and  on 
several  occasions,  the  masses  condensed,  so  to  speak, 
until  a  distinct  objective  light  was  formed.  On  that 
evening,  however,  a  number  of  cones  of  soft  light 
similar  to  moonlight  appeared  in  succession.  There 
was  a  nucleus  of  soft  yellow  light  surrounded  by  a 
haze.  They  sailed  up  from  a  corner  of  the  room 
and  gradually  died  out.  They  seem  to  have  been 
carried  in  a  materialised  hand,  a  finger  of  which 
was  shown  at  request,  by  placing  it  in  front  of  the 
nucleus  of  light.^ 

Subsequently  they  saw  another  kind  of  light  alto- 
gether. It  was  apparently  a  little  round  disc  of 
light  which  twinkled  like  a  star.  It  flashed  with 
great  rapidity,  and  answered  questions  by  the  usual 
code  of  signals.  On  about  half-a-dozen  occasions 
a  bright  scintillating  light  apparently  resting  on  the 
mantelshelf  was  seen.     It  was  about  the  size  of  a 

1  Vol.  ix.  pp.  245-352,  and  vol.  xi.  pp.  24-11.3. 
*  See  ibid.,  vol.  ix.  pp  273-274. 


38  SPIRITUALISM 

pigeon's  egg,  and  looked  like  a  large  diamond  lit  up 
with  strong  liglit.^ 

Mr.  Stainton  Moses  gives  a  description  of  "  a 
most  remarkable  light,  of  quite  a  different  kind 
from  any  that  he  had  ever  heard  or  read  of."  It 
appeared  six  times,  diminishing  in  brilliancy  on  each 
occasion.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses  says:  "The  light 
was  first  observed  directly  behind  us — a  tall  column 
about  half  an  inch  or  rather  more  in  width,  and  six 
or  seven  feet  high.  The  light  was  of  a  bright 
golden  hue,  and  did  not  illuminate  objects  in  its 
neighbourhood.  For  a  minute  a  cross  developed 
at  its  top,  and  rays  seemed  to  dart  from  it."  Dr. 
Speer,  who  had  been  watching  the  strange  pheno- 
menon with  absorbing  interest,  asked  permission  to 
examine  it  more  closely.  Leave  being  given,  he 
went  to  the  light,  put  his  face  close  to  it,  and 
passed  his  hand  through  it.  He  detected  no  odour, 
and  the  light  did  not  disappear.  No  warmth  came 
from  it,  nor  did  it  perceptibly  light  up  the  room.  It 
remained  visible  until  the  seance  was  concluded.^ 

The  following  graphic  description  shall  be  given 
in  Mr.  Stainton  Moses'  own  words : — 

"  The  room,  which  had  been  filled  (especially 
round  me)  with  floating  clouds  of  light,  grew  sud- 
denly dark,  and  absolute  stillness  took  the  place 
of  the  previous  loud  knockings.  It  would  have 
been  a  strange  scene  for  an  ear-witness.  The  table, 
isolated,  with  no  human  hand  touching  it,  giving 
forth  a  series  of  mysterious  thuds  of  varying 
intensity,   some   of  which   might  have   been  made 

1  See  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  p.  276. 

2  See  ibid.,  pp.  276-277. 


THE    APPEARANCE    OF    LIGHT  39 

with  a  muffled  sledge-hammer,  all  indicating  in- 
telligence— an  intelligence  that  showed  itself  by 
deliberation,  or  eagerness,  or  stately  solemnity 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  communication. 
Around  the  table  three  persons  sitting  with  a  hush 
of  expectation,  and  faces  (if  they  could  have  been 
seen)  of  awe-stricken  earnestness.  .  .  .  The  room 
shrouded  in  darkness,  except  at  one  end,  where 
shifting  masses  of  luminous  vapour  now  and  again 
gathered  into  a  pillar  which  dimly  outlined  a  form, 
and  again  dispersed,  and  flitted  round  the  head  of 
one  of  the  sitters.  No  scene  could  be  imagined 
more  calculated  to  strike  a  novice  with  awe,  none 
more  solemn  and  impressive  for  those  who  partici- 
pated in  it/'^ 

Mr.  W.  Stainton  Moses  thus  describes  the  for- 
mation of  the  lights  at  a  sitting  on  9  th  August 
1873:— 

"  I  witnessed  the  formation  of  some  eight  or  nine 
very  beautiful  spirit  lights.  They  formed  quite 
close  to  me,  and  near  my  left  hand,  about  a  foot 
from  the  floor,  floating  upwards  till  they  reached 
the  level  of  the  table  and  became  visible  to  Dr. 
Speer.  They  were  expressly  made  at  my  side, 
instead  of,  as  usual,  at  my  back,  so  that  I  might 
see  them.  They  seemed  to  develop  from  a  very 
bright  speck,  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  until  they 
attained  the  size  of  a  soda-water  tumbler,  and 
showed  a  soft  luminosity  like  pale  moonlight. 
They  seemed  to  be  covered  with  drapery  and  to 
be  held  by  a  hand.  They  faded  slowly  out,  remain- 
ing visible  about  thirty  or  forty  seconds,  or  perhaps 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  p.  290. 


40  SPIRITUALISM 

a  minute.  The  largest  would  be  about  eight  inches 
long/'  ^ 

On  14th  April  1874,  Dr.  Speer  and  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses  held  a  sitting  by  themselves.  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses  thus  describes  what  happened : — 

"  To-night  lights  commenced  again,  but  of  a 
quite  different  character  to  any  we  had  seen  before. 
They  darted  about  like  a  comet,  coming  from  the 
side  by  the  harmonium,  or  near  the  fireplace. 
They  were  evanescent,  and  apparently  of  diffuse 
luminosity,  within  which  was  a  nucleus  of  light,  not, 
however,  visible  to  me.  We  had  some  ten  or  twelve 
of  these,  some  more  brilliant  than  others,  some 
visible  both  in  the  looking-glass  and  in  the  glass 
of  the  book-case,  and  they  were  showing  a  trail  of 
reflected  light  on  the  table,  when  suddenly  there 
arose  from  below  me,  apparently  under  the  table, 
or  near  the  floor,  right  under  my  nose,  a  cloud  of 
luminous  smoke,  just  like  phosphorus.  It  fumed 
up  in  great  clouds,  until  I  seemed  to  be  on  fire,  and 
rushed  from  the  room  in  a  panic.  I  was  fairly 
frightened,  and  could  not  tell  what  was  happening. 
I  rushed  to  the  door  and  opened  it,  and  so  to  the 
front  door.  My  hands  seemed  to  be  ablaze,  and 
left  their  impress  on  the  doors  and  handles.  It 
blazed  for  a  while  after  I  had  touched  it,  but  soon 
went  out,  and  no  smell  or  trace  remained.  I  have 
seen  my  own  hands  covered  with  a  lambent  flame ; 
but  nothing  like  this  I  ever  saw.  .  .  .  The  lights 
were  preceded  by  very  sharp  detonations  on  my 
chair,  so  that  we  could  watch  for  their  coming  by 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R,  vol.  ix.  p.  319. 


PHYSICAL    PHENOMENA  41 

hearing  the  noise.     They  shot  up  very  rapidly  from 
the  floor/'  ^ 

This  sensational  experience  must  conclude  the 
evidence  respecting  the  lights,  for  the  present. 
One  more  selection  has,  however,  been  made,  which 
is  deferred  to  the  special  chapter  on  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses'  experiences  as  a  whole.  The  present  chapter 
must  be  read  in  connection  with  that  chapter.  It 
is  admitted  that  the  testimony  quoted  with  regard 
to  the  Lights  does  not  reach  the  level  of  scientific 
evidence.  At  the  same  time,  when  due  considera- 
tion is  given  to  the  existing  contemporary  records, 
and  to  the  careful  way  in  which  Mr.  Myers  ex- 
amined the  whole  case,  it  is  difiicult  to  avoid  the 
conviction  that  the  Lights  were  objective  pheno- 
mena, not  produced  by  any  known  physical  cause. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  efforts  were  not 
made  to  secure  a  critical  study  of  the  Lights  by  a 
competent  scientific  man. 


CHAPTER  V 

PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  ALLEGED  TO  HAVE  OC- 
CURRED IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  DANIEL 
DUNGLAS  HOME 

Scientific  evidence  of  the  reaHty  of  the  Physical 
Phenomena  alleged  to  have  occurred  in  the  presence 
of  D.  D.  Home  is  scarcely  to  be  looked  for  in  the 
two  volumes  written  by  himself,  nor  even  in  the 
two  volumes  published  after  his  death  by  Madame 

^  Proceedings  S. p. R.y  vol.  zi.  pp.  44-45. 


42  SPIRITUALISM 

Home.  The  alleged  phenomena  failed  to  attract 
the  attention  of  more  than  a  very  few  men  of 
science  during  Home's  lifetime.  Of  these  the  most 
eminent  is  Sir  William  Crookes,  F.K.S.  With  re- 
gard to  Sir  William  Crookes'  evidence  the  reader 
is  referred  to  two  paragraphs  on  page  124. 

The  Keport   of  the   Committee  of  the 
Dialectical  Society. 

Again,  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Dialectical  Society,  or  rather  the  documents  which 
accompany  it,  supplies  some  good  evidence.  Home 
had  four  sittings  with  one  of  the  Sub-Committees, 
but  the  phenomena  were  of  a  trifling  and  incon- 
clusive character.  This  was  attributed  to  the  state 
of  Home's  bodily  health.  He  was  on  the  eve  of  a 
severe  illness.  Several  persons  subsequently  sent 
to  the  Committee  statements  of  what  they  had  seen 
and  heard  in  Home's  presence.  The  only  one  of 
these  which  can  be  said  to  possess  scientific  value 
is  a  report  of  a  seance  held  with  Lord  Lindsay — 
now  the  Earl  of  Crawford  and  Balcarres — and  Mrs. 
Honywood,  and  two  other  persons.  The  report  is 
as  follows.  It  is  written  by  Mrs.  Honywood,  and 
Lord  Lindsay  adds  a  few  words,  his  own  personal 
testimony. 

"  I  met  Mr.  Home  at  the  house  of  a  friend  on 
the  17th  March  1869.  We  sat  down,  five  in 
number,  at  a  round  table  in  the  back  drawing-room. 
There  was  an  oil  lamp  on  a  table  in  the  front 
drawing-room,  and  fires  in  both  grates.  After  a 
while  Mr.  Home  became  entranced,  walked  into  the 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  43 

front  room,  and  stood  on  the  hearth-rug.  He 
began  to  dance  slowly,  raising  first  the  one  foot 
and  then  the  other,  his  hands  hanging  loosely  as 
I  have  read  of  Easterns  and  Indians,  moving  in 
time  to  music.  He  then  knelt  down,  rubbing  and 
clasping  his  hands  together  in  front  of  the  fire.  I 
asked,  '  Are  you  a  fire  worshipper  ? '  He  nodded 
and  looked  pleased.  '  Are  you  a  Persian  ? '  He 
smiled  and  nodded  assent,  after  which  he  rose  and 
placed  four  chairs  in  a  row  near  the  folding  doors, 
signing  to  us  to  sit  there.  He  now  went  to  the 
table  on  which  stood  the  moderator  lamp ;  taking 
off  the  globe,  he  placed  it  on  the  table,  and 
deliberately  grasped  the  chimney  of  the  lamp  with 
both  hands;  then,  advancing  to  the  lady  of  the 
house,  he  asked  her  to  touch  it,  but  she  refused, 
knowing  it  was  hot.  Mr.  Home  said,  '  Have  you 
no  faith  ?  Will  you  not  trust  in  Dan  if  he  says  it 
is  cool  ? '  She  replied,  '  Certainly,'  and  placed  her 
finger  on  the  glass,  exclaiming,  '  Oh,  it  is  not  at  all 
hot ! '  This  was  corroborated  by  Lord  Lindsay  and 
myself,  who  in  turn  both  laid  our  finger  on  the 
glass  several  times  to  test  it.  Mr.  Home  laughed 
and  said,  '  I  will  make  it  hot  for  you,  old  fellow,' 
and  holding  it  towards  Mr.  ,  he  turned,  ap- 
parently addressing  some  one,  and  said,  in  a  sad 
tone  of  voice,  '  It  is  necessary  to  confirm  the  faith 
of  others  that  the   glass   should  be  made  hot  for 

him.'      Mr.  now  touched  it,  and  exclaimed, 

*  You  have  indeed,'  shaking  his  hand  and  showing 
me  a  red  mark.  So  hot  was  the  glass  when  a 
fourth  person  touched  it,  that  it  raised  a  blister, 
which  I  saw  some  days  subsequently,  peeling.     I 


44  SPIRITUALISM 

leave  it  for  the  sg' entitle  to  determine  how  the  heat 
was  re-imparted  to  the  glass,  after  being  withdrawn. 
"  Mr.  Home  now  returned  to  the  fireplace,  and 
thrust  the  chimney  into  the  red-hot  coals,  resting 
the  end  on  the  top  bar ;  he  left  it  there  about  four 
or  five  minutes,  then,  lifting  it,  he  clasped  it  in  both 
hands,  went  to  the  table,  took  a  lucifer  match  from  a 
box,  and  handing  it  to  the  lady  of  the  house,  desired 
her  to  touch  the  glass — the  match  instantly  ignited ; 
and  having  called  our  attention  to  this  fact,  he 
observed,  '  The  tongue  and  lips  are  the  most  sensitive 
parts  of  the  body,'  and  thrust  the  heated  glass  into 
his  mouth,  applying,  especially,  his  tongue  to  it. 
He  once  more  returned  to  the  fire,  and  again  placed 
the  chimney  on  the  upper  bar,  the  end  of  the  glass 
resting  amidst  the  red  coals.  He  left  it  there  and 
walked  about  the  room,  selected  a  small  fern-leaf 
from  a  vase  of  flowers,  and  raising  the  chimney, 
placed  it  within,  and  replaced  the  chimney  among 
the  coals.  After  a  few  moments  he  told  us  to 
observe  very  carefully,  as  the  experiment  would  be 
very  pretty.  Mr.  Home  now  held  up  the  glass, 
and  we  perceived  the  fern-leaf  within  apparently  on 
fire.  He  replaced  it  after  a  few  seconds,  and  hold- 
ing it  up  again,  exclaimed,  '  Is  it  not  pretty  ? ' 
The  fern  appeared  red-hot;  each  little  leaf  edged 
with  gold,  yet  flameless,  like  clouds  at  sunset — 
rich  glowing  crimson  tinged  with  molten  gold. 
After  we  had  all  looked  at  it  and  admired  it,  he 

advanced  to  Mrs. ,  and  laughingly  shook  it  out 

on  her  muslin  dress.  I  expected  to  see  it  crumble 
away;  but  no,  it  ^as  still  green,  though  dry  and 
withered.     Unfortunately  it  was  not  preserved. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  45 

"  Again  Mr.  Home  returned  to  the  fire,  and  once 
more  placed  the  glass  on  the  coals,  where  he  left 
it,  and  walked  about  the  room ;  going  to  the  lamp, 
he  passed  his  hand  slowly  backwards  and  forwards 
through  the  flame,  not  an  inch  from  the  wick; 
returning  to  the  fireplace,  he  lifted  the  chimney, 
and  moving  the  coals  about  with  his  hand,  selected 
a  small  flat  red-hot  coal,  and  placed  it  in  the 
chimney — shook    it  up  and  down,  and    advancing 

to  us,  playfully  said,  '  H ,  here  is  a  present  for 

you,'  and  threw  out  the  coal  on  her  muslin  dress. 
Catching  it  up  in  dismay,  she  tossed  it  to  Lord 
Lindsay,  who,  unable  to  retain  it  in  his  hand,  threw 
it  from  palm  to  palm  till  he  reached  the  grate  and 
flung  it  in.  While  we  were  all  looking  at  the 
muslin  dress  and  wondering  that  it  was  neither 
soiled  nor  singed,  Mr.  Home  approached,  and  in  a 
hurt  tone  of  voice  said,  '  No,  no,  you  will  not  find 
a  mark;  did  you  think  that  we  would  hurt  your 
dress.'  Mr.  Home  then  selected  a  small  spray  of 
white  flower,  and  going  to  the  lamp,  he  passed  it 
two  or  three  times  through  the  flame,  then  carried  it 
to  the  grate,  and  held  it  first  in  the  flame  and  then 
in  the  smoke  above  the  coals,  moving  it  gently  about. 
He  now  brought  it  back  to  us,  asking  us  to  look  at 
it  and  smell  it,  calling  our  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  flower  did  not  smell  of  smoke,  and  that  it 
was  unchanged  by  the  heat  and  flame  of  lamp  and 
fire.  He  then  bid  us  notice  that  his  hand  which 
held  the  flower  smelt  of  smoke,  while  the  flower 
remained  uninjured.  Then  addressing  us,  he  said, 
'The  spirit  now  speaking  through  Dan,  and  that 
has    enabled  him  to  show  you  these  curious  fire- 


46  SPIRITUALISM 

tests,  in  which  he  hopes  you  have  all  felt  interested, 
is  the  spirit  of  an  Asiatic  fire-worshipper,  who  was 
anxious  to  come  here  to-night,  as  he  had  heard  of 
seances  held  here.  He  now  bids  you  farewell,  as 
he  will  return  no  more/ 

''  After  this  Mr.  Home  awoke. 

"  Barbara  Honywood." 

"  I  was  present  at  this  seance,  and  can  corroborate 
the  truth  of  the  above  statement. 

"  Lindsay."  ^ 

[Now  Eakl  of  Ceawfokd  and  Balcarkes.] 

Testimony  of  the  Earl  of  Dunraven. 

Lord  Dunraven — then  Lord  Adare — had  a  num- 
ber of  sittings  with  Home.  He  printed  a  small 
volume — for  private  circulation  only — under  the 
title  of  "  Experiences  in  Spiritualism  with  Mr.  D.  D. 
Home.''     This  volume  is  exceedingly  scarce. 

An  Inquiry  by  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S., 
AND  Mr.  F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

In  the  year  1889,  Professor  Barrett  and  Mr. 
Myers  undertook  an  ''  Inquiry  into  the  Evidence 
for  the  Mediumship  of  D.  D.  Home."  They 
collected  the  testimony  of  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons who  were  witnesses  of  the  Home  phenomena, 
carefully  examined  its  evidential  value,  and  sum- 
marised it  in  a  Joint  Report.  This  was  printed  in 
the  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
for  July    1889.^      It  is   to  be   regretted   that  the 

1  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  London  Dialectical  Society, 
pp.  360-363. 

2  Vol.  iv.  pp.  101-136. 


PHYSICAL    PHENOMENA  47 

Society  has  not  seen  its  way  to  publish  this  Report 
in  a  form  accessible  to  the  general  public.  It  is 
true  that  in  his  great  work,  "  Human  Personality, 
and  its  Survival  of  Bodily  Death,"  Mr.  Myers  gives 
a  brief  summary  of  the  Report ;  but  he  condenses 
the  thirty- six  pages  of  the  original  Report  and  its 
appendices  into  four  pages  of  "  Human  Personality," 
which  are  quite  insufficient  to  convey  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  Report  itself.  Also,  the  cost  of  Mr. 
Myers'  book  debars  from  it  the  mass  of  readers. 
This  Report  was  followed  up  a  little  later  by  a 
brief  article  by  Mr.  Myers,  forming  an  important 
supplement.^ 

In  the  Report  itself  its  joint  authors  say:  "We 
propose    the    question — Have    Home's     phenomena/ 
ever  been  plausibly  explained   as  conjuring  tricks,; 
or  in  accordance  with  known  laws  of  nature  ?     And 
we  answer — No ;  they  have  not  been  so  explained, 
nor  can  we  so  explain  them."  ^     In  commenting  on  i 
the  Joint  Report,  by  Professor  Barrett  and  himself,  * 
Mr.  Myers  puts  the  problem  as  to  Home  in   this 
form :     "  There    is    thus     a    considerable    body    of 
evidence  as  to  Home,  which  enables  us  to  discuss 
the  three  questions:  (1)  Was  he  ever  convicted  of 
fraud  ?     (2)  Did  he  satisfy  any  trained  observer  in  a 
series  of  experiments  selected  by  the  observer  and 
not  by  himself  ?    (3)  Were  the  phenomena  entirely 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  conjurer's  art  ?  "  ^ 

In  the  Joint  Report  the  writers  say — (1)  As  to 
fraud  :  "  We  have  found  no  allegations  of  fraud  on 

1  Journal  S.P.R,  vol.  iv.  pp.  249-252. 

«  Ibid.,  p.  115. 

^  "Human  Personality,"  vol.  ii.  p.  579. 


48  SPIRITUALISM 

which,  we  should  be  justified  in  laying  much  stress. 
Mr.  Robert  Browning  has  told  to  one  of  us  the 
circumstances  which  mainly  led  to  that  opinion  of 
Home  which  was  expressed  in  '  Mr.  Sludge,  the 
Medium.'  It  appears  that  a  lady  (since  dead) 
repeated  to  Mr.  Browning  a  statement  made  to  her 
by  a  lady  and  gentleman  (since  dead),  as  to  their 
finding  Home  in  the  act  of  experimenting  with 
phosphorus  on  the  production  of  '  spirit  lights,' 
which,  so  far  as  Mr.  Browning  remembers,  were  to 
be  rubbed  round  the  walls  of  the  room,  near  the 
ceiling,  so  as  to  appear  when  the  room  was  darkened. 
This  piece  of  evidence  powerfully  impressed  Mr. 
Browning ;  but  it  comes  to  us  at  third-hand,  with- 
out written  record,  and  at  a  distance  of  nearly  forty 
years. 

"We  have  received  one  other  account  from  a 
gentleman  of  character  and  ability,  of  a  seance  in 
very  poor  light,  when  the  '  spirit-hand '  moved  in 
such  a  way  as  to  seem  dependent  on  the  action  of 
Home's  arms  and  legs.  This  account  is  subjoined 
[in  the  Report]  as  Appendix  D.  We  may  add  that 
few,  if  any,  of  the  lights  seen  at  Home's  seances 
could  (as  they  are  described  to  us)  have  been  con- 
trived by  the  aid  of  phosphorus. 

"There  is  also  a  frequently  repeated  story  that 
Home  was  found  at  the  Tuilleries  (or  at  Compifegne, 
or  at  Biarritz)  to  be  using  a  stuffed  hand,  and  was 
consequently  forbidden  the  Imperial  Court.  We 
have  tried  in  France  to  get  at  the  fountain-head 
of  this  story,  but  without  success."  ^ 

(2)    "  With    regard    to    our     second    question — 

1  Journal  S.P.R,,  vol.  iv.  p.  103, 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  49 

whether  his  powers  were  tested  by  competent 
observers  " — Mr.  Myers  says  :  ''  Home  in  this  respect 
stands  pre-eminent ;  since  we  have  the  evidence  of 
Sir  William  Crookes,  corroborated  by  the  testimony 
of  the  Master  of  Lindsay  (now  Earl  of  Crawford  and 
Balcarres),  himself  a  savant  of  some  distinction,  and 
the  privately  printed  series  of  careful  observations 
by  the  present  and  the  late  Lords  Dunraven.^ 

(3)  "As  to  our  third  question — whether  the 
phenomena  could  have  been  produced  by  conjur- 
ing " — Mr.  Myers  says  :  "  Many  of  them,  especially 
the  fire-tests,  and  the  movements  of  large  un- 
touched objects  in  good  light,  seem  inexplicable 
by  this  supposition.  The  hypothesis  of  collective 
hallucination  on  the  part  of  the  sitters  seems  very 
improbable,  because,  in  most  cases,  all  those  present 
saw  the  same  thing ;  and  often  without  receiving 
from  Home  any  audible  suggestion  as  to  what  was 
about  to  happen."  ^ 

In  the  Joint  Report  by  Professor  Barrett  and 
Mr.  Myers,  a  considerable  space  is  devoted  to  a 
discussion  as  to  conjuring  being  the  explanation 
of  the  Home  manifestations.  It  is  dismissed  as 
utterly  inadequate.  In  conclusion,  the  authors  of 
the  Report  say:  "And  we  find  that  experts  in 
conjuring  (several  of  whom  we  have  consulted), 
however  little  they  may  believe  in  Home's  pre- 
tensions, are  disposed  rather  to  reject  wholesale 
than  to  explain  in  detail  the  more  remarkable 
records."  ^ 


^  "Human  Personality,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  580-581. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  581. 

8  Journal  S.P.E.,  vol.  iv.  p.  107. 

D 


50  SPIRITUALISM 

Professor  Barrett  and  Mr.  Myers  proceed  to  quote 
thirty-five  cases  of  the  identification  of  alleged 
communicating  spirits  from  Madame  Home  s  book, 
entitled  '*  D.  D.  Home,  His  Life  and  Mission."  They 
remark,  "  This  list  of  identifications  is  a  long  one, 
and  quite  unique  in  the  history  of  Spiritualism."  ^ 
After  analysing  this  list  of  cases,  they  say  near  the 
conclusion  of  their  Report,  as  implying  their  final 
verdict :  "  If  our  readers  ask  us — '  Do  you  advise  us 
to  go  on  experimenting  in  these  matters  as  though 
Home's  phenomena  were  genuine  ? ' — we  answer, 
*  Yes.' "  ^  In  the  supplementary  article  above  referred 
to  sixteen  more  cases  of  identification  are  added  to 
the  thirty-five. 

In  Appendix  E  to  the  Report  is  given  some 
striking  testimony  to  the  reality  of  the  "  fire-test." 
The  following  letter  from  Mr.  W.  M.  Wilkinson, 
the  well-known  solicitor,  is  included  : —  p 

"  As  you  ask  me  to  write  to  you  of  what  occurred 
at  our  house  at  Kilburn,  where  we  were  living  in 
1869,  with  reference  to  the  handling  of  red-hot 
coal,  I  will  merely  say  that  one  Sunday  evening  in 
the  winter  of  that  year,  I  saw  Mr.  Home  take  out 
of  our  drawing-room  fire  a  red-hot  coal  a  little  less 
in  size  than  a  cricket  ball,  and  carry  it  up  and  down 
the  drawing-room.  He  said  to  Lord  Adare,  now 
Lord  Dunraven,  who  was  present,  '  Will  you  take 
it  from  me  ?  It  will  not  hurt  you.'  Lord  Adare 
took  it  from  him,  and  held  it  in  his  hand  for 
about  half  a  minute,  and  before  he  threw  it  back 
in  the  fire  I  put  my  hand  pretty  close  to  it,  and 

»  Journal  S.P.R,  vol.  iv.  p.  114.  ^  i^i^^^  p,  n^ 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  51 

felt   the   heat   to   be   like    that    of   a    live    coal. — 
Yours  very  truly,  W.  M.  Wilkinson.^ 

44  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields, 
London,  W.C,  February  7,  1869." 

Appendix  M  to  the  Keport  consists  of  some 
particulars  verbally  given  to  Mr.  Myers  by  Mrs. 
Honywood,  of  52  Warwick  Square,  London,  in 
further  explanation  of  her  printed  testimony  to 
phenomena  she  had  witnessed  in  Home's  presence. 
She  was  well  acquainted  with  him  for  twenty-five 
years,  attended  many  seances,  and  took  notes  of 
them  at  the  time.  In  the  early  part  of  this 
chapter,  a  statement  she  sent  to  the  Dialectical 
Society  has  already  been  quoted.  She  told  Mr. 
Myers  that  most  of  her  friends  were  complete 
disbelievers  in  Spiritualism,  and  that  they  fre- 
quently repeated  to  her  rumours  to  the  discredit 
of  Home.  But  she  never  heard  any  first-hand 
account  of  any  kind  of  trickery  on  his  part.  She 
considered  him  a  man  of  open  childlike  nature, 
thoroughly  honest  and  truthful,  and  that  in  her 
opinion  his  utterances  in  the  trance  state  were 
much  superior  in  thought  and  diction  to  his  ordi- 
nary talk.  She  said  she  should  like  to  give  Mr. 
Myers  a  few  additional  details  with  regard  to  the 
fire  phenomena  reported  in  Madame  Home's  book^ 
"  D.  D.  Home,  His  Life  and  Mission,"  on  her  autho- 
rity. Madame  Home's  secretary,  she  said,  had 
slightly  abbreviated  her  words  in  a  way  which 
made  the  occurrences  seem  rather  less  wonderful 
than    they   actually   were.      Mr.    Myers    gives    the 

^  Journal  S.P.R,  vol.  iv.  p.  122. 


52  SPIRITUALISM 

following,  as  having  been  signed  ''Barbaea  Hony- 
wooD,  June  1889/' 

''As  to  the  burning  coal  placed  in  my  hand. 
I  saw  Mr.  Home  take  this  coal  from  the  fire, 
moving  his  hands  freely  among  the  coals.  It  was 
about  the  size  of  a  coffee  cup,  blazing  at  the  top, 
and  red-hot  at  the  bottom.  While  I  held  it  in  my 
hand  the  actual  flame  died  down,  but  it  continued 
to  crackle,  and  to  be  partially  red-hot.  I  felt  it 
like  an  ordinary  stone,  neither  hot  nor  cold.  Mr. 
Home  then  pushed  it  off  my  hand  with  one  finger 
on  to  a  double  sheet  of  cartridge  paper,  which  it 
lat  once  set  on  fire.  I  am  quite  certain  that  I  was 
jfin  my  usual  condition  at  the  time.  .  .  . 

''  As  to  the  hot  lamp-chimney  which  I  touched. 

There  was  a  row  of  four  or  five  persons  sitting  side 

by  side,  and  Mr.  Home  asked  us  each  in  turn  to 

•  touch   the  glass.      When  I   touched  it,   I   felt  as 

though  a  wave  of  heat  were  receding  before  me.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  repeatedly  taken  Mr.  Home  in  my  own 
carriage  to  the  houses  of  friends  of  mine  who  were 
strangers  to  him,  and  have  there  seen  the  furni- 
ture at  once  violently  moved  in  rooms  which  I 
knew  that  he  had  never  entered  till  that  moment. 
I  have  seen  heavy  furniture  moved ;  for  instance,  a 
heavy  sofa  in  my  own  drawing-room,  with  myself 
japon  it,  and  a  heavy  centre  table,  moved  several 
feet  away  from  Home,  and  then  back  again,  in  the 
light,  while  his  hands  and  feet  were  visible.  Not 
horse-hairs,  but  ropes,  would  often  have  been  neces- 
sary to  pull  the  furniture  about  as  I  have  seen  it 
pulled."^ 

1  Journal  S.P.R,  vol.  iv.  pp.  135-136. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  5S 

A  brief  reference  must  now  be  made  to  what  is  per- 
haps the  most  sensational  alleged  event  in  Home's 
mediumistic  career,  the  one  which  is  most  fre- 
quently spoken  of  by  the  general  public,  with  more 
or  less  forcible  expressions  of  scornful  incredulity ; 
his  "  levitation  "  out  of  the  window  of  a  room  at  a 
great  height  from  the  ground,  and  in  at  a  window  of 
the  next  room  on  the  same  story.  In  the  Report  by 
Professor  Barrett  and  Mr.  Myers,  no  detailed  account 
of  this  is  given.  The  Report  says :  "  Lords  Lindsay 
and  Adare  had  printed  a  statement  that  Home 
floated  out  of  the  window  and  in  at  another  in 
Ashley  Place  (Victoria  Street),  S.W.,  16  th  December 
1868."^  At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Dialectical  Society,  held  on  6th  July  1869,  a  paper 
was  read  from  Lord  Lindsay,  describing  some  of 
his  personal  experiences  with  Home.  This  paper 
makes  no  reference  to  the  above  case  of  levitation. 
But  at  the  same  meeting  of  the  Committee,  Lord 
Lindsay  and  others  gave  evidence  as  witnesses,  and 
Lord  Lindsay  thus  described  this  particular  case : — 

"  I  saw  the  levitations  in  Victoria  Street,  when 
Home  floated  out  of  the  window;  he  first  went 
into  a  trance,  and  walked  about  uneasily ;  he  then 
went  into  the  hall ;  while  he  was  away,  I  heard  a 
voice  whisper  in  my  ear,  '  He  will  go  out  of  one 
window  and  in  at  another.'  I  was  alarmed  and 
shocked  at  the  idea  of  so  dangerous  an  experiment. 
I  told  the  company  what  I  had  heard,  and  we  then 
waited  for  Home's  return.  Shortly  after  he  entered 
the  room,  I  heard  the  window  go  up,  but  I  could 
not  see  it,  for  I  sat  with  my  back  to  it.     I,  how- 

1  Journal  S,P,R,  vol.  iv.  p.  108. 


54  SPIRITUALISM 

ever,  saw  his  shadow  on  the  opposite  wall ;  he  went 
out  of  the  window  in  a  horizontal  position,  and  I 
saw  him  outside  the  other  window  (that  in  the  next 
room)  floating  in  the  air.  It  was  eighty-five  feet 
from  the  ground.  There  was  no  balcony  along  the 
windows,  merely  a  strong  course  an  inch  and  a  half 
wide ;  each  window  had  a  small  plant  stand,  but 
there  was  no  connection  between  them.  I  have  no 
theory  to  explain  these  things.  I  have  tried  to  find 
out  how  they  are  done,  but  the  more  I  studied 
them,  the  more  satisfied  was  I  that  they  could  not 
be  explained  by  mere  mechanical  trick."  ^ 

There  is  one  episode  in  the  career  of  D.  D. 
Home  which,  although  it  does  not  affect  the 
reality  of  the  phenomena  alleged  to  have  taken 
place  in  his  presence,  claims  a  brief  mention.  The 
gift  to  Home  by  Mrs.  Lyon  of  a  large  sum  of 
money,  the  subsequent  lawsuit,  and  the  judgment 
in  accordance  with  which  the  money  Avas  returned 
to  its  original  owner,  excited  much  attention  at  the 
time.  Public  opinion  frequently  takes  up  sensa- 
tional occurrences  in  a  most  illogical  and  unscientific 
manner.  But  a  permanent  effect  may  thus  be  pro- 
duced, which  is  extremely  difficult  to  eradicate, 
even  if  shown  to  be  unjustifiable.  This  episode 
with  Mrs.  Lyon  has  probably  had  more  effect  than 
any  other  circumstance  in  causing  the  feeling  of 
aversion  with  which  large  numbers  of  people  regard 
Home  and  all  his  doings.  He  is  looked  upon,  and 
spoken  of,  as  if  he  were  an  unprincipled  adventurer, 
convicted  of  fraud,  and  of  obtaining  money  under 
false  pretences. 

^  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Dialectical  Society,  p.  214. 


PHYSICAL    PHENOMENA  55 

The  remarks  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  are 
based  mainly  upon  Appendix  III.  to  the  Report  by 
Professor  Barrett  and  Mr.  Myers,  and  which  deals 
with  the  case  of  Lyon  v.  Home.^  The  Appendix 
commences  thus  :  '*  Our  colleague,  Mr.  H.  Arthur 
Smith  [barrister-at-law],  author  of  '  Principles  of 
Equity/  has  kindly  furnished  us  with  the  following 
review  of  the  case  of  Lyon  v.  Home."  The  following 
are  a  few  extracts  from  this  review : — 

"  I  have  looked  carefully  into  the  case  of  Lyon  v. 
Home  as  reported  in  the  Law  Reports  (6  Equity, 
655),  .  .  .  and  perhaps  the  following  comments 
may  be  useful  to  j^ou. 

"  It  is  certainly  the  fact  that  the  judge  discredited 
the  evidence  of  Mrs.  Lyon.  He  said :  '  Reliance 
cannot  be  placed  on  her  testimony.  ...  It  would 
be  unjust  to  found  on  it  a  decree  against  any  man, 
save  in  so  far  as  what  she  has  sworn  to  may  be 
corroborated  by  written  documents,  or  unimpeached 
witnesses,  or  incontrovertible  facts.' 

"  Having,  then,  eventually  decided  against  Home, 
it  follows  that  the  judge  must  have  considered  that 
her  evidence  was  corroborated  in  some  or  other  ot 
the  ways  mentioned." 

Mr.  H.  Arthur  Smith  further  says :  "  There  was 
also  an  admitted  letter  from  Mrs.  Lyon  to  Home, 
in  which  she  stated  that  she  presented  him  with  the 
£24,000  as  an  '  entirely  free  gift'  This,  she  said,  was 
written  by  her  at  Home's  dictation,  under  magnetic 
influence." 

^  Journal  S.P.R.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  117-119. 


56  SPIRITUALISM 

Mr.  H.  Arthur  Smith  proceeds  to  discuss  the 
"  corroborative  evidence  which  led  to  the  judge's 
final  opinion."     He  then  remarks : — 

"Now  it  must,  I  think,  be  admitted  that  con- 
sidering the  extraordinary  character  of  Mrs.  Lyon's 
conduct,  and  the  swiftness  with  which  she  reached 
her  decision  to  transfer  her  property  to  Home,  such 
evidence  as  the  above  may  reasonably  be  deemed 
corroborative  of  her  assertion  that  she  was  induced 
to  act  as  she  did  by  the  effects  of  Home's  spiri- 
tualistic pretensions.  .  .  .  There  was  sufficient  .  .  . 
in  my  opinion,  to  establish  the  plaintiff's  case.  It 
is  not  then  true  that  '  Home  was  made  to  restore 
the  money,  because,  being  a  professed  medium,  it 
was  likely  that  he  should  have  induced  her  in  the 
way  he  did.'  The  Court  held  the  law  to  be  that 
such  transactions  as  those  in  question  cannot  be  up- 
held, '  unless  the  Court  is  quite  satisfied  that  they 
are  acts  of  pure  volition  uninfluenced.'  .  .  .  There 
was  evidence  of  considerable  weight,  that  as  a  matter 
of  fact  .  .  .  Home  did  work  on  the  mind  of  Mrs. 
Lyon  by  means  of  spiritualistic  devices,  and  further 
that  he  did  so  by  suggesting  communications  from 
her  deceased  husband.  Whether  this  is  to  Home's 
discredit  or  not  of  course  will  be  decided  according 
to  one's  belief  in  Spiritualism  and  the  reality  of 
her  husband's  interference,  .  .  . 

H.  Arthur  Smith. 

1  New  Square,  Lincoln's  Inn, 
October  19,  1888." 

In  order  that  this  episode  should  have  its  rightful 
effect,  and  no  more,  it  is  needful  that  several  things 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  57 

should  be  borne  in  mind.  In  the  first  place,  the 
action  was  in  a  Court  of  Equity.  It  was  not  a 
prosecution  in  a  Criminal  Court.  The  decision  of 
the  Court  was  not  a  verdict  of  guilty  against  a 
prisoner,  to  be  followed  by  punishment  for  wrong- 
doing, but  an  order  to  refund  certain  money.  In 
ordinary  circumstances  a  judgment  of  this  kind 
does  not  brand  a  man  with  infamy,  nor  affect  his 
character  and  position  in  the  eyes  of  society.  Again, 
after  the  judgment  of  the  Court,  Home  promptly 
repaid  the  money.  He  had  not  appropriated  or 
expended  any  part  of  it.  What  more  could  he 
have  done  ? 

Mr.  Myers'  remark  in  "  Human  Personality " — 
"  The  most  serious  blot  on  Home's  character  was 
that  revealed  by  the  Lyon  case  "  ^ — seems,  therefore, 
rather  severe  under  the  circumstances.  Especially 
as  Mr.  Myers  has  expressed  himself  so  strongly  in 
favour  of  the  reality  of  the  Home  phenomena,  and 
has  said,  in  conjunction  with  Professor  Barrett,  that 
they  found  no  allegations  of  fraud  on  which  they 
were  justified  in  laying  much  stress.  Much  more 
to  the  purpose  is  Mr.  H.  Arthur  Smith's  comment : 
"  Whether  this  is  to  Home's  discredit  or  not  of 
course  will  be  decided  according  to  one's  belief 
in  Spiritualism  and  the  reality  of  her  husband's 
interference." 

Had  this  Keport  of  Professor  Barrett's  and  Mr. 
Myers',  with  its  Appendices,  been  placed  before  the 
public,  it  might  have  mitigated  the  prejudice  which 
hangs  about  the  name  of  D.  D.  Home  in  the  minds 
of   so   many.     The  unique    position   which    Home 

^  "  Human  Personality,"  vol.  ii.  p.  680. 


58  SPIRITUALISM 

occupies  in  regard  to  the  Physical  Phenomena  of 
Spiritualism  seems  a  sufficient  reason  for  dwelling 
somewhat  fully  on  this  episode  as  it  affects  his 
character  as  a  man. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  ALLEGED  TO  HAVE  OC- 
CURRED IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  WILLIAM 
STAINTON  MOSES 

It  is  mainly  due  to  the  labours  of  Mr.  F.  W.  H. 
Myers,  after  Mr.  Stainton  Moses'  death,  that  the 
Physical  Phenomena  alleged  to  have  occurred  in 
his  presence  can  be  included  among  those  for 
which  evidence  of  a  scientific  character  is  claimed. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that,  during  Mr.  Stain- 
ton  Moses'  lifetime,  although  phenomena  of  a  very 
varied  character  were  alleged  to  have  occurred  with 
great  frequency  during  many  years,  no  scientific 
man  of  eminence  appears  to  have  joined  in  the 
seances,  except  on  one  or  two  occasions.  Perhaps 
the  primary  reason  for  this  was  that  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses'  own  attitude  of  mind  towards  the  subject 
did  not  court  critical  and  scientific  investigation 
of  the  phenomena.  But  even  during  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  life,  subsequent  to  the  formation  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research,  of  which  he  was  an 
original  member,  and  not  only  that,  but  for  nearly 
five  years  a  Vice-President  and  a  member  of  the 
Council,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  sittings  were  held  with 
him  on   behalf  of   the  Society,  and  no  first-hand 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  59 

authentic  records  of  the  alleged  phenomena  in  earlier 
years  were  placed  before  it.  One  reason  for  this 
probably  was  that  the  Council  of  the  Society  in- 
formally adopted  a  sort  of  understanding  that  its 
earlier  investigations  should  not  be  directed  towards 
"  Spiritualism/'  but  mainly  towards  those  branches 
of  the  great  subject  which  were,  so  to  speak,  just 
outside  the  field  of  recognised  scientific  inquiry — 
such,  for  instance,  as  Thought-Transference  and 
Hypnotism.  In  this  course  there  was  doubtless 
a  certain  amount  of  wisdom,  but  to  it  was  due 
the  apathy  and  the  ultimate  secession  of  a  few 
members  who  took  great  interest  in  the  formation 
of  the  Society.  Chief  among  these  was  W.  Stainton 
Moses  himself.  In  November  1886  he  withdrew 
from  the  Society,  considering  that  the  evidence  of 
phenomena  of  the  genuine  character  of  which  he 
had  satisfied  himself  beyond  doubt,  was  not  being 
properly  entertained  or  fairly  treated. 

Mr.  W.  Stainton  Moses  entrusted  by  will  his  un- 
published MSS.  to  two  friends  as  literary  executors, 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Massey  and  Mr.  Alaric  A.  Watts. 
At  the  earnest  request  of  Mr.  Myers,  these  gentle- 
men permitted  him  to  see  a  large  number  of  them. 
Thirty-one  note-books  were  placed  in  his  hands. 
Permission  was  further  given  to  Mr.  Myers  to  make 
selections  from  these  note-books  for  publication  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Society.  These  selections 
form  the  substance  of  two  long  articles.^  The 
thirty-one  books  comprise  twenty-four  of  Automatic 

1  Proceedings  S.P.B.,  vol.  ix.  pp.  245-352,  and  vol.  xi.  pp.*  24-113. 
Reference  should  also  be  made  to  an  obituary  notice  of  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses  by  Mr.  Myers,  in  Proceedings,  vol.  viii.  pp.  597-601. 


60  SPIRITUALISM 

Writing,  four  Kecords  of  Physical  Phenomena,  and 
three  of  retrospect  and  summary.  Two  of  these 
recapitulate  physical  phenomena,  with  reflections. 

Mr.  Stainton  Moses'  most  intimate  friends  were 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Stanhope  T.  Speer.  They,  with  the 
occasional  attendance  of  another  intimate  friend,  Mr. 
F.  W.  Percival,  barrister- at-law,  and  Examiner  in 
the  Education  Department,  were  generally  the  only 
members  of  the  small  group  who  witnessed  the 
phenomena.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses'  note-books  had 
been  kept  extremely  private.  It  seems  probable 
that  no  one  had  seen  them  until  they  were  placed 
in  Mr.  Myers'  hands.  Two  note-books  and  other 
MSS.  by  Dr.  Speer  were  also  handed  to  Mr.  Myers, 
which  he  says  contained  independent  contemporary 
records  of  much  evidential  value.  With  regard  to 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Speer,  Mr.  Myers  says:  ''Their  im- 
portance as  witnesses  of  the  phenomena  is  so  great, 
that  I  must  be  pardoned  for  inserting  a  '  testimonial ' 
to  the  late  Dr.  Speer  (M.D.,  Edinburgh),  which  shall 
not,  however,  be  in  my  own  words,  but  in  those  of 
Dr.  Marshall  Hall,  F.R.S.,  one  of  the  best-known 
physicians  of  the  middle  of  this  century.  Writing 
on  18th  March  1849,  Dr.  Marshall  Hall  says  (in 
a  printed  collection  of  similar  testimonials  now  before 
me) :  '  I  have  great  satisfaction  in  bearing  my 
testimony  to  the  talents  and  acquirements  of  Dr. 
Stanhope  Templeman  Speer.  Dr.  Speer  has  had 
unusual  advantages  in  having  been  at  the  medical 
schools,  not  only  of  London  and  Edinburgh,  but  of 
Paris  and  Montpellier,  and  he  has  availed  himself 
of  these  advantages  with  extraordinary  diligence 
and  talent.    He  ranks  among  our  most  distinguished 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  61 

rising  physicians/ "  ^  Dr.  Speer  practised  as  a 
physician  at  Cheltenham  and  in  London,  and  at 
different  times  held  various  important  hospital 
posts.  He  had  scientific  and  artistic  tastes,  and 
being  possessed  of  private  means,  he  quitted  pro- 
fessional work  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  and  spent 
his  subsequent  life  in  studious  retirement.  Mr. 
Myers  says  that  his  "  cast  of  mind  was  strongly 
materialistic,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  his  interest 
in  Mr.  Moses'  phenomena  was  from  first  to  last  of 
a  purely  scientific,  as  contrasted  with  an  emotional 
or  religious  nature/'^  Mrs.  Stanhope  Speer  also 
kept  careful  records  of  the  sittings.  Over  sixty 
instalments  were  published  in  the  weekly  journal, 
Light,  under  the  title  of  "  Records  of  Private  Seances, 
from  Notes  taken  at  the  time  of  each  Sitting." 

Mr.  Stainton  Moses  was  born  in  Lincolnshire  in 
1839.  He  studied  at  Oxford,  and  was  ordained  as 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  After  a 
few  years  of  active  life  as  a  parish  clergyman,  he 
was  oifered  a  Mastership  in  University  College 
School,  London,  which  post  he  held  until  about 
three  years  before  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1892.  As  to  the  "fundamental  questions  of  sanity 
and  probity,''  Mr.  Myers  says  :  "  Neither  I  myself, 
nor,  so  far  as  I  know,  any  person  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Moses,  has  ever  entertained  any  doubt."  ^  Mr. 
Charles  C.  Massey  says:  ''However  perplexed  for 
an  explanation,  the  crassest  prejudice  has  recoiled 
from    ever    suggesting    a    doubt   of  the  truth  and 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R,  vol.  ix.  pp.  247-248. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  248. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  247. 


62  srmiTUALiSM 

honesty  of  Stainton  Moses."  ^  Mr.  H.  J.  Hood, 
barrister-at-law,  who  knew  him  for  many  years, 
writes :  ''I  believe  that  he  was  wholly  incapable 
of  deceit."-^  The  principal  published  works  of 
Mr.  Stainton  Moses  are — "Researches  in  Spiri- 
tualism," issued  in  Human  Nature,  a  periodical  now 
extinct;  "Spirit  Identity"  (1879),  recently  repub- 
lished; "Spirit  Teachings"  (1883),  of  which  a  new 
edition  has  lately  appeared  with  a  biography  by 
Mr.  Charles  Speer  (son  of  Dr.  S.  T.  Speer).  Mr. 
Stainton  Moses  was  also  Editor  of  Light  during  its 
earlier  years. 

It  has  seemed  important,  in  view  of  what  is  to 
follow,  that  the  reader  should  be  in  possession  of 
this  somewhat  explicit  account  of  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses,  his  life,  his  work,  and  his  intimate  friends. 

Having  briefly  treated  of  these  external  matters 
in  the  first  of  his  two  articles  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  S.F.R.,  Mr.  Myers  goes  on  to  say : — 

"  But  now  our  narrative  must  pass  at  a  bound 
from  the  commonplace  and  the  credible  to  bewilder- 
ing and  inconceivable  things.  With  the  even  tenour 
of  this  straightforward  and  reputable  life  was  in- 
woven a  chain  of  mysteries  which,  as  I  have  before 
said,  in  whatever  way  soever  they  be  explained, 
make  that  life  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  which 
our  century  has  seen.  For  Stainton  Moses'  true 
history  lies,  not  in  the  everyday  events  thus  far 
recorded,  but  in  that  series  of  physical  manifesta- 
tions which  began  in  1872,  and  lasted  for  some 
eight  years,  and  that  series  of  automatic  writings 
and  trance-utterances  which  began  in  1873,  received 

1  Proceedings  S.F,E.,  vol.  ix.  p.  247. 


PHYSICAL    PHENOMENA  63 

a  record  for  some  ten  years,  and  did  not,  as  is 
believed,  cease  altogether  until  the  earthly  end  was 
near."  ^ 

The  Physical  Phenomena. 

This  inquiry  concerns  physical  phenomena  only. 
The  wealth  of  material  to  select  from  is  enormous. 
It  is  proposed  to  give  one  or  two  examples  of  each 
of  the  important  classes  of  physical  phenomena.  In 
doing  so  such  examples  only  will  be  quoted  as  have 
been  selected  by  Mr.  Myers  to  include  in  his  articles 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  8.P.B.  The  reader  will 
therefore  know  that  the  following  records  have  been 
under  Mr.  Myers'  scrutiny,  and  have  been  considered 
by  him  as  of  evidential  value.  This  will  also  sim- 
plify references,  as  it  will  be  needful  to  refer  only  to 
Mr.  Myers  articles  which  are  easily  accessible,  and 
not  to  the  original  sources. 

Movements  without  Contact. 

After  recording  some  movements  of  a  table,  Mr. 
Stainton  Moses  says  :  "  All  that  I  have  described 
occurs  readily  when  the  table  is  untouched.  Indeed, 
when  the  force  is  developed,  we  have  found  it  better 
to  remove  the  hands  and  leave  the  table  to  its  own 
devices.  The  tilting  above  noticed  has  been  even 
more  marked  when  the  sitters  have  been  removed 
from  it  to  a  distance  of  about  two  feet.  It  has 
rapped  on  the  chair  and  on  the  floor,  inclined  so  as 
to  play  into  a  hand  placed  on  the  carpet,  and  has 
been  restored  to  its  normal  position  when  no  hand 
has  touched  it.      The  actual  force  required  to  per- 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  p.  252. 


64  SPIRITUALISM 

form  this  would  be  represented  by  very  considerable 
muscular  exertion  in  a  man  of  ordinary  strength."  ^ 

The  following  account,  besides  being  a  record  of 
physical  phenomenon,  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
result  of  not  following  alleged  instructions.  Mr. 
Stainton  Moses  writes : — 

"  We  had  ventured  on  one  occasion,  contrary  to 
direction,  to  add  to  our  circle  a  strange  member. 
Some  trivial  phenomena  occurred,  but  the  usual 
controlling  spirit  did  not  appear.  When  next  we 
sat  he  came  ;  and  probably  none  of  us  will  easily 
forget  the  sledge-hammer  blows  with  which  he 
smote  the  table.  The  noise  was  distinctly  audible 
in  the  room  below,  and  gave  one  the  idea  that  the 
table  would  be  broken  to  pieces.  In  vain  we  with- 
drew from  the  table,  hoping  to  diminish  the  power. 
The  heavy  blows  increased  in  intensity,  and  the 
whole  room  shook  with  their  force.  The  direst 
penalties  were  threatened  if  we  again  interfered  with 
the  development  by  bringing  in  new  sitters.  We 
have  not  ventured  to  do  so  again;  and  I  do  not 
think  we  shall  easily  be  persuaded  to  risk  another 
similar  objurgation."^ 

The  following  account  of  some  impromptu  occur- 
rences is  written  by  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox,  and  is  quoted 
by  Mr.  Myers  from  the  second  volume  of  Serjeant 
Cox's  work,  "  What  am  I  ? "  The  scene  was  also 
orally  described  to  Mr.  Myers  by  Serjeant  Cox,  who, 
as  Mr.  Myers  remarks,  was  not  himself  a  "  Spiri- 
tualist," but  ascribed  these  and  similar  phenomena 
to  a  power  innate  in  the  medium's  own  being. 

^  Proceedings  S.P.E.,  vol.  ix.  p.  259. 
a  Ibid. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  65 

'*  On  Tuesday,  2nd  June  1873,  a  personal  friend 
[Mr.  Stainton  Moses]  came  to  my  residence  in 
Russell  Square  to  dress  for  a  dinner  party  to  which 
we  were  invited.  He  had  previously  exhibited  con- 
siderable power  as  a  Psychic.  Having  half  an  hour 
to  spare,  we  went  into  the  dining-room.  It  was 
just  six  o'clock,  and  of  course  broad  daylight.  I 
was  opening  letters ;  he  was  reading  the  Times. 
My  dining-table  is  of  mahogany,  very  heavy,  old- 
fashioned,  six  feet  wide,  nine  feet  long.  It  stands 
on  a  Turkey  carpet,  which  much  increases  the  diffi- 
culty of  moving  it.  A  subsequent  trial  showed  that 
the  united  efforts  of  two  strong  men  standing  were 
required  to  move  it  one  inch.  There  was  no  cloth 
upon  it,  and  the  light  fell  full  under  it.  No  person 
was  in  the  room  but  my  friend  and  myself.  Sud- 
denly, as  we  were  sitting  thus,  frequent  and  loud 
rappings  came  upon  the  table.  My  friend  was  then 
sitting  holding  the  newspaper  with  both  hands,  one 
arm  resting  on  the  table,  the  other  on  the  back  of 
a  chair,  and  turned  sideways  from  the  table,  so  that 
his  legs  and  feet  were  not  under  the  table,  but  at 
the  side  of  it.  Presently  the  solid  table  quivered  as 
with  an  ague  fit.  Then  it  swayed  to  and  fro  so 
violently  as  almost  to  dislocate  the  big  pillar-like 
legs,  of  which  there  are  eight.  Then  it  moved  for- 
ward about  three  inches.  I  looked  under  it  to  be 
sure  it  was  not  touched;  but  still  it  moved,  and 
still  the  blows  were  loud  upon  it. 

*'  This  sudden  access  of  the  Force  at  such  a  time, 
and  in  such  a  place,  with  none  present  but  myself 
and  my  friend,  and  with  no  thought  then  of  in- 
voking it,  caused  the  utmost  astonishment  in  both 


66  SPIRITUALISM 

of  us.  My  friend  said  tliat  nothing  like  it  had  ever 
before  occurred  to  him.  I  then  suggested  that  it 
would  be  an  invaluable  opportunity,  with  so  great  a 
power  in  action,  to  make  trial  of  motion  without  con- 
tacty  the  presence  of  two  persons  only,  the  daylight, 
the  place,  the  size  and  weight  of  the  table,  making 
the  experiment  a  crucial  one.  Accordingly  we 
stood  upright,  he  on  one  side  of  the  table,  I  on  the 
other  side  of  it.  We  stood  two  feet  from  it,  and 
held  our  hands  eight  inches  above  it.  In  one 
minute  it  rocked  violently.  Then  it  moved  over 
the  carpet  a  distance  of  seven  inches.  Then  it  rose 
three  inches  from  the  floor  on  the  side  on  which 
my  friend  was  standing.  Then  it  rose  equally  on 
my  side.  Finally  my  friend  held  his  hands  four 
inches  over  the  end  of  the  table,  and  asked  that  it 
would  rise  and  touch  his  hand  three  times.  It  did 
so ;  and  then  in  accordance  with  the  like  request,  it 
rose  to  my  hand  held  at  the  other  end  to  the  same 
height  above  it  and  in  the  same  manner.''  ^ 

Levitation. — The  wonderful  phenomenon  of  levi- 
tation  must  be  included  in  the  category  of  "  move- 
ments without  contact  "  !  Some  of  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses'  experiences  of  this  kind  are  much  more 
explicitly  and  circumstantially  described  than  those 
alleged  to  have  occurred  with  D.  D.  Home.  Mr. 
Stainton  Moses  gives  the  following  account  of  his 
first  personal  experience  of  this  nature : — 

"  My  first  personal  experience  of  levitation  was 
about  five  months  after  my  introduction  to  spiri- 
tualism. Physical  phenomena  of  a  very  powerful 
description  had  been  developed  with  great  rapidity. 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  pp.  259-260. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  67 

We  were  new  to  the  subject,  and  the  phenomena 
were  most  interesting.  .  .  .  One  day  (30th  August 
1872)  .  .  .  I  felt  my  chair  drawn  back  from  the 
table  and  turned  into  the  corner  near  which  I  sat. 
It  was  so  placed  that  my  face  was  turned  away 
from  the  circle  to  the  angle  made  by  the  two  walls. 
In  this  position  the  chair  was  raised  from  the  floor 
to  a  distance  of,  I  should  judge,  twelve  or  fourteen 
inches.  My  feet  touched  the  top  of  the  skirting- 
board,  which  would  be  about  twelve  inches  in  height. 
The  chair  remained  suspended  for  a  few  moments, 
and  I  then  felt  myself  going  from  it,  higher  and 
higher,  with  a  very  slow  and  easy  movement.  I  had 
no  sense  of  discomfort  nor  of  apprehension.  I  was 
perfectly  conscious  of  what  was  being  done,  and 
described  the  process  to  those  who  were  sitting  at 
the  table.  The  movement  was  very  steady,  and  occu- 
pied what  seemed  a  long  time  before  it  was  com- 
pleted. I  was  close  to  the  wall,  so  close  that  I  was 
able  to  put  a  pencil  firmly  against  my  chest,  and  to 
mark  the  spot  opposite  to  me  on  the  wall-paper. 
That  mark  when  measured  afterwards  was  found  to 
be  rather  more  than  six  feet  from  the  floor,  and, 
from  its  position,  it  was  clear  that  my  head  must 
have  been  in  the  very  corner  of  the  room,  close  to 
the  ceiling.  I  do  not  think  that  I  was  in  any  way 
entranced.  I  was  perfectly  clear  in  my  mind,  quite 
alive  to  what  was  being  done,  and  fully  conscious  of 
the  curious  phenomenon.  I  felt  no  pressure  on  any 
part  of  my  body,  only  a  sensation  as  of  being  in  a 
lift,  whilst  objects  seemed  to  be  passing  away  from 
below  me.  I  remember  a  slight  difiiculty  in  breath- 
ing, and  a  sensation  of  fulness  in  the  chest,  with  a 


68  SPIRITUALISM 

general  feeling  of  being  lighter  than  the  atmosphere. 
I  was  lowered  down  quite  gently,  and  placed  in  the 
chair,  which  had  settled  in  its  old  position.  The 
measurements  and  observations  were  taken  imme- 
diately, and  the  marks  which  I  had  made  with  my 
pencil  were  noted.  My  voice  was  said  at  the  time 
to  sound  as  if  from  the  corner  of  the  room,  close  to 
the  ceiling."^ 

Mr.  Stainton  Moses  says  that  this  experience  was 
repeated,  with  variations,  on  nine  other  occasions. 
Once  he  suddenly  found  himself  on  the  table — 
his  chair  being  unmoved.  This,  ''  under  ordinary 
circumstances,''  he  says, "  is  what  we  call  impossible." 
On  another  occasion  he  was  placed  on  the  table 
standing.  But  he  discouraged  these  phenomena  of 
levitation  as  much  as  possible,  from  a  dislike  to 
violent  physical  manifestations. 

Movement  of  Objects  in  a  Closed  Room,  no 
ONE  being  Present. — I  am  not  aware  of  any  other 
well-attested  instances  of  a  curious  phenomenon 
stated  to  have  occurred  w^hen  Mr.  Stainton  Moses 
was  near  but  not  present.  He  thus  describes  the 
''  first  startling  manifestation  "  of  this  kind.  It  was 
on  Sunday,  18th  August  1872.  Simple  pheno- 
mena of  raps  and  movements  of  the  table  com- 
menced *  at  breakfast-time.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses 
went  to  church  with  his  friend.  On  entering  his 
bedroom  afterwards,  his  attention  was  drawn  by 
loud  rappings  which  followed  him  round  the  room, 
to  three  articles  so  placed  on  the  bed  as  to  form  an 
imperfect  cross.  While  he  was  in  the  room  another 
article    was    added.      He   called    his    friend   whose 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  p.  261. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  69 

guest  tie  was.  To  avoid  the  possibility  of  children 
or  servants  playing  tricks,  in  case  anything  more 
happened,  they  well  searched  the  room — it  contained 
no  cupboard — bolted  the  window,  locked  the  door 
on  leaving,  and  the  host  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 
After  lunch  two  more  articles  were  found  to  be 
added.  Another  visit  discovered  other  additions. 
This  went  on  till  5  p.m.,  "  when  a  complete  cross 
extending  the  whole  length  of  the  bed  was  made 
entirely  of  little  articles  from  the  toilet-table.'' 
The  position  of  the  room,  and  the  whole  circum- 
stances, convinced  Mr.  Stainton  Moses  and  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Speer,  with  whom  he  was  staying,  beyond  any 
doubt  that  human  intervention  was  impossible.  A 
very  detailed  account  of  this  incident  exists  in  the 
handwriting  of  Dr.  Speer.-^ 

The  Carrying  of  Objects  into  a  Locked  Room, 
AND  THE  Passage  of  Solid  Objects  through 
Material  Obstacles. — During  the  two  or  three 
weeks  subsequent  to  the  above,  over  fifty  instances 
occurred  in  which  objects  from  different  parts  of 
the  house  were  placed  upon  the  table  round  which 
Mr.  Stainton  Moses  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Speer  were 
sitting  in  a  locked  dark  room.  The  gas  was  always 
left  burning  brightly  in  the  adjoining  dining-room, 
and  in  the  hall  outside,  so  that  if  either  of  the  doors 
had  been  opened,  even  for  a  moment,  a  blaze  of 
light  would  have  been  let  into  the  room  in  which 
they  sat.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses  remarks — "As  this 
never  happened,  we  have  full  assurance  from  what 
Dr.  Carpenter  considers  the  best  authority,  common 
sense,  that    the  doors  remained  closed."     On    one 

^  See  Proceedings  S,P.R,  voL  ix.  pp.  263-266. 


70  SPIRITUALISM 

occasion  a  small  edition  of  ''  Paradise  Lost  "  was 
placed  on  the  table,  and  at  the  same  time  the  words 
"  to  convince  ^'  were  spelt  out  by  raps.  This  little 
book  had  been  in  the  hands  of  all  of  them  during  the 
evening,  and  they  could  testify  to  the  position  on 
a  bookshelf  where  it  had  been  left.  One  evening 
seven  objects  in  different  rooms  were  brought  in; 
among  them  a  little  bell  from  the  dining-room. 
They  heard  it  begin  to  ring,  the  sound  approached 
the  door,  they  were  astonished  soon  to  hear  the 
sound  in  the  room  where  they  sat,  round  which  the 
bell  was  carried,  close  to  the  faces  of  all,  and  finally 
placed  on  the  table,  having  been  ringing  loudly  all 
the  time.  A  curious  incident  occurred  at  a  later 
date,  the  circle  of  three  sitting  alone.  A  small 
Parian  statuette  from  an  upper  room  was  placed 
upon  the  table.  One  of  the  party  requested  that  a 
friend  who  usually  communicates  might  be  fetched. 
"  We  are  doing  so ''  was  spelt  out  by  raps.  This 
was  taken  to  be  the  complete  answer,  and  they 
ceased  to  call  over  the  alphabet.  However,  the 
alphabet  was  called  for  again,  and  ''  mething  else " 
was  spelt  out.  No  idea  could  be  formed  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this.  At  request  it  was  exactly  repeated. 
After  much  puzzling  it  occurred  to  one  of  the 
party  to  join  it  on  to  the  previous  message — when 
the  meaning  became  apparent.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses 
sarcastically  remarks — '*  What  a  clear  case  of  '  un- 
conscious cerebration ' "  !  "  Very  soon  an  odour 
like  Tonquin  bean  was  apparent  to  all  of  us.  Some- 
thing fell  on  the  table,  and  light  showed  that  a  snuff- 
box which  had  contained  Tonquin  bean  had  been 
brought  from  Dr.  Speer  s  dressing-room.     The  box 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  71 

was  closed,  and  the  odour  was  remarked  before  any 
of  us  had  the  remotest  idea  that  the  box  was  in  the 


Perfumes  and  Waves  of  Scent-laden  Am. 

This  phase  of  the  phenomena  must  be  passed 
rapidly  over,  though  manifested  to  a  much  greater 
extent  and  in  greater  variety  in  Mr.  Stainton  Moses' 
case  than  in  any  other  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
In  his  circle  music  and  singing  were  never  intro- 
duced as  a  means  of  harmonising  the  conditions.  Mr. 
Stainton  Moses  says  :  ''  In  our  circle  this  harmonising 
is  effected  by  means  of  perfumes  and  waves  of  cool- 
scented  air."  *'  If  a  new  sitter  is  present,  he  or  she 
is  censed  (if  I  may  adopt  the  expression),  and  so 
initiated."  "  If  a  new  intelligence  is  to  communi- 
cate, or  special  honour  to  be  paid  to  a  chief,  the 
room  is  pervaded  by  perfumes  which  grow  stronger 
as  the  spirit  enters."  Sometimes  the  scent  was  in  a 
liquid  form,  and  apparently  sprinkled  down  from 
the  ceiling.  Sometimes  dry  musk  was  thrown  about 
in  considerable  quantities.  A  striking  instance  is 
given  in  the  form  of  a  statement  from  Mr.  F.  W. 
Percival,  mentioned  at  the  commencement  of  this 
article — a  very  occasional  sitter.  He  says:  '*In 
compliance  with  your  request,  I  will  describe  as 
briefly  as  possible  what  occurred  at  the  dark  seance 
held  on  the  evening  of  18th  March  1874,  when  scent 
was  produced  so  abundantly  in  the  presence  of  Mrs. 
Speer  and  myself,  while  you  [Mr.  S.  M.]  were  in  a 
state  of  trance.  The  controlling  spirit  began  by  speak- 
ing through  you  at  some  length,  and  we  were  told 

1  See  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ix.  pp.  266-267. 


72  SPIRITUALISM 

to  expect  unusual  manifestations.  They  commenced 
with  a  strongly  scented  breeze,  which  passed  softly 
round  the  circle,  its  course  being  marked  by  a  pale 
light.  In  a  few  minutes  it  suddenly  changed,  and 
blew  upon  us  with  considerable  force,  as  if  a  pair  of 
bellows  had  been  employed,  and  the  temperature  of 
the  room  was  perceptibly  lowered.  After  this  liquid 
scent  was  sprinkled  upon  us  several  times;  it 
appeared  to  come  from  the  top  of  the  room,  and 
fell  upon  us  in  small  drops.  Finally  we  were  told 
that  a  new  manifestation  would  be  attempted,  and 
that  we  were  to  prepare  for  it  by  joining  hands  and 
holding  the  palms  upwards.  In  this  position  we 
waited  for  two  or  three  minutes,  and  then  I  felt  a 
stream  of  liquid  scent  poured  out,  as  it  were  from 
the  spout  of  a  teapot,  which  fell  on  one  side  of  my 
left  hand,  and  ran  down  upon  the  table.  The  same 
was  done  for  Mrs.  Speer;  and  to  judge  from  our 
impressions  at  the  time,  and  from  the  stains  on  the 
table,  a  very  considerable  quantity  must  have  been 
produced.  I  may  remark  in  conclusion  that  there 
was  no  scent  in  the  room  before  the  seance,  and  that 
we  could  distinguish  several  different  perfumes  which 
made  the  atmosphere  so  oppressive  that  we  were 
glad  to  seek  a  purer  air  so  soon  as  the  seance  came 
to  an  end."  ^ 

Lights  without  Apparent  Physical  Cause. 

The  phenomenon  of  Light  without  any  apparent 
physical  cause  was  a  frequent  one  with  Mr.  Stainton 
Moses,  and  the  manifestations  were  of  a  very  varied 

1  Proceedings  S,P.R.,  vol.  ix.  pp.  267-273. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  73 

character.  Several  of  these  were  described  in 
Chapter  IV. 

An  account  is  now  given  of  some  remarkable 
phenomena  which  occurred  at  four  consecutive 
seances  on  the  9th,  10th,  11th,  and  12th  of  August 
1873.  Mr.  Stainton  Moses  was  on  a  holiday  ex- 
cursion with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Speer  in  the  North  of 
Ireland.  The  days  were  spent  in  orthodox  holiday 
fashion.  The  following  is  condensed  from  notes 
written  in  detail  at  the  time  by  Dr.  Speer : — 

On  the  10th  of  August,  after  some  other  pheno- 
mena had  occurred,  a  large  globe  of  light  rose 
opposite  to  me,  sailed  up  to  the  level  of  our  faces, 
and  then  vanished.  Several  more  followed.  By 
request  one  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  table. 
It  was  surrounded  with  drapery.  A  light  came  and 
stood  on  the  table  close  to  me.  "  Now  I  will  show 
you  my  hand*'  was  rapped  out.  A  large  very 
bright  light  then  came  up,  and  inside  of  it  appeared 
the  materialised  hand  of  the  spirit.  The  fingers 
moved  about  close  to  my  face ;  the  appearance 
was  as  distinct  as  can  be  conceived.  I  was  told  to 
write  an  exact  account  of  what  had  been  done. 
The  next  evening  I  placed  the  account  I  had 
written  and  a  pencil  on  the  table,  and  asked 
that  the  light  might  be  brought  down  upon  it. 
This  was  done.  I  then  asked  that  if  possible  the 
spirit  would  append  his  signature.  The  spirit  said 
he  would  try.  After  other  lights  had  been  pro- 
duced, the  hand  appeared  outside  the  drapery,  I 
heard  the  pencil  moving,  and  repeating  his  instruc- 
tion of  the  previous  evening,  he  departed,  leaving 
on  the  paper  a  specimen  of  direct  spirit  caligraphy. 


74  SPIRITUALISM 

On  these  two  evenings  no  other  sitter  was  present 
but  myself.^ 

Direct  Writing. 

As  has  already  been  remarked,  the  wealth  of 
material  is  so  great  that  selection  is  a  matter  of 
difficulty.  There  is  much  more  I  should  like  to 
have  included  in  this  chapter,  but  it  must  be  drawn 
to  a  close  with  a  brief  detailed  account  of  a  case  of 
"Direct  Writing."  There  is  perhaps  no  pheno- 
menon more  incredible  to  the  "  beginner  "  in  these 
studies,  than  that  legible  and  intelligent  writing 
should  be  produced  without  human  agency,  and  yet 
there  seems  no  other  way  of  explaining  the  facts. 
The  following  is  an  account,  by  Mr.  Stainton  Moses 
himself,  of  a  seance  held  on  19th  September  1872, 
the  last  held  before  a  break  in  the  series  during  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  "  Imperator "  had  recently 
announced  himself  as  the  leading  guide  or  director 
of  the  phenomena. 

"  We  darkened  the  seance  room,  leaving  the  gas 
burning  brightly  in  the  adjoining  dining-room.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Speer  and  I  sat  at  the  table.  On  the 
floor  under  the  table  we  put  a  piece  of  ruled  paper 
and  a  pencil.  A  corner  of  the  paper  I  tore  oflf,  and 
handed  it  to  Dr.  Speer  to  identify  the  sheet  of  paper 
if  necessary.  Various  raps,  some  objects  brought 
in,  and  a  noise  rather  like  sawing  wood.  When 
light  was  called  for,  Mrs.  ^Speer  stooped  down  and 
picked  up  the  paper.  The  upper  surface  was  blank. 
Her  endorsement  on  the  back  of  the  paper,  after- 
wards written,  reads :  '  I  took  the  paper  from  under 

*  Proceedings  JS,P.R,  vol.  ix.  pp.  274-276. 


PHYSICAL   PHENOMENA  75 

the  table  with  the  writing  downwards/  i.e,  on  the 


-i^^^^j^^AcfiZiL 


C>i^-</^  m^^'^rviT'    Ci^r>/fuLri/ 


QmyumxyJ^yniDn^  UiJ/n 


o/d/L/ WA  ^2m£^AJlA 


r 


UrrriJ^icrmn 


w 


Facsimile  reduced  from  original.  The  paper  was  blue,  with 
faint  blue  lines.  The  corner  at  the  top  right  hand  was 
torn  off  for  identification  of  the  paper. 

surface  touching  the  carpet.     Dr.  Speer  and  I  wrote 
and  signed  this  endorsement:    'The  above  corner 


76  SPIRITUALISM 

was  torn  by  me  (S.  M.)  before  the  light  was  put 
out,  and  was  given  to  Dr.  S.'  I  (S.  M.)  afterwards 
put  the  two  pieces  together.  They  fit  exactly,  and 
are  secured  by  a  couple  of  halfpenny  stamps,  with 
the  initials  of  Dr.  S.  and  myself  upon  them.  The 
message  follows  the  rules  exactly.  A  facsimile  is 
appended,  omitting  only  the  initials  of  a  deceased 
friend.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  writing  is  clearly 
and  laboriously  executed  on  the  ruled  lines.  In  no 
case  are  the  lines  deserted.  I  fancy  the  message 
is  written  backwards.  Imperator's  signature  is  of 
his  usual  decided  type,  very  like  what  is  automati- 
cally written  by  my  hand.  I  suspect  that  the 
message  was  written  by  two  hands."  ^ 


CHAPTER    VII 
"THE   DIVINING   ROD" 

The  reality  or  otherwise  of  the  pretensions  of  the 
"  Divining  Rod  "  come  legitimately  within  the  scope 
of  the  present  inquiry.  The  physical  results  which, 
it  is  alleged,  follow  the  use  of  the  "  Divining "  or 
"  Dowsing "  Rod  in  certain  hands  are  unexplained 
by  recognised  physical  science.  The  main  fact  of 
the  success  of  the  Rod,  as  a  means  of  finding  water 
where  all  ordinary  methods  have  failed,  is,  however, 
so  widely  acknowledged  among  intelligent  persons, 
including  many  business  men,  that  it  will  be  un- 
necessary to  devote  much  space  to  this  chapter.  I 
shall  not  do  more  than  briefly  refer  to  the  scientific 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R,  voL  ix.  i>p.  284-286. 


77 

inquiry  into  the  whole  subject  which  has  been  made 
in  recent  years,  and  quote  a  few  cases  where  success 
has  attended  the  use  of  the  Rod  after  other  means 
had  failed. 

Here  again  we  are  mainly  indebted  to  a  member 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  for  what  has 
been  done.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Society,  two 
or  three  members,  especially  the  late  Mr.  E.  Vaughan 
Jenkins,  of  Oxford,  had  assiduously  collected  the 
best  testimony  they  could  obtain  as  to  the  successful 
use  of  the  Rod.  This  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Society  in  1884,  and  was  amply  sufficient  to 
show  that  a  strong  primd  facie  case  for  fuller  in- 
vestigation existed.-^  In  1891,  at  the  request  of  the 
Council  of  the  Society,  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  F.R.S., 
of  Dublin,  undertook  to  submit  the  whole  subject 
to  a  thorough  scientific  and  experimental  research. 
The  results  of  Professor  Barrett's  indefatigable 
industry  over  a  number  of  years  are  embodied  in 
two  lengthy  Reports,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Society.^  The  following  cases  are  quoted  from 
Professor  Barrett's  records  as  examples  of  the  work 
of  different  professional  '*  dowsers." 

I.  Mr.  B.  Tompkins,  of  Pipsmore  Farm,  Chip- 
penham, Wilts,  was  the  ''diviner"  in  this  case. 
Prior  to  1890,  Mr.  Tompkins  was  a  tenant  farmer. 
Having  been  at  some  expense  in  endeavouring  to 
obtain  a  good  supply  of  water  for  his  cattle,  without 
success,  he  sent  for  Mr.  MuUins,  who  came  and 
found  a  spot  where  he  said  a  plentiful  supply  of 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  79-107. 

'^  Ibid.,  vol!  xiii.    (Part  XXXII.),  pp.  2-282,  and  vol.  xv.  (Part 
XXXVI.),  pp.  130-383. 


78  SPIRITUALISM 

water  existed  at  a  depth  of  less  than  3  0  feet.  A 
well  was  sunk,  and  at  1 5  feet  deep  a  strong  spring 
was  tapped  which  has  yielded  an  unfailing  supply 
ever  since.  Mr.  Tompkins  finding  that  the  forked 
twig  moved  in  his  own  hands,  tried  some  experi- 
ments on  his  own  account  which  proved  successful. 
He  was  then  asked  by  Messrs.  Smith  and  Marshall, 
of  Chippenham,  agents  to  the  late  Lord  Methuen,  to 
try  and  find  a  spring  on  Lord  Methuen's  estate,  as  a 
well  already  sunk  had  proved  useless.  After  a  long 
search  the  rod  moved  at  a  certain  spot  on  a  hillside 
where  Mr.  Tompkins  predicted  a  good  supply  of 
water  would  be  found.  Nine  feet  of  solid  rock  had 
to  be  blasted,  but  at  18  feet  a  spring  was  struck 
which  rose  9  or  10  feet  in  the  well.  Messrs.  Smith 
and    Marshall    subsequently  wrote    thus    to    Mr. 

Tompkins : — 

*•  Chippenham,  Wilts,  and 

7  Whitehall  Place,  London, 
November  24,  1891. 

"  The  decision  you  arrived  at  was  perfectly  correct, 
and  it  is  our  opinion  that  if  we  had  made  the  well 
6  feet  either  way  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  spot 
you  marked,  we  should  have  missed  the  water,  which 
is  now  abundant.  Smith  and  Marshall.'*' 

This  is  by  way  of  introduction  to  case  99  in 
Professor  Barrett's  Report. 

"No.  99.  Mr.  Charles  Maggs,  who  is  a  Wiltshire 
county  magistrate,  and  proprietor  of  the  Melksham 
Dairy  Company,  required  a  large  supply  of  pure 
water  for  his  butter  factory,  and,  after  ineffectual 
attempts  to  obtain  it,  wrote  to  Mr.  Tompkins  to 
come    over    and  try  the    divining  rod.       This  was 


"  THE    DIVINING   ROD  "  79 

done,  and   subsequently  Mr.  Maggs   writes    to   Mr. 
Tompkins  as  follows : — 

**  *  Melksham  Dairy  Company, 
November  10,  1890. 

"'We  found  water  at  30  feet,  as  stated  by  you 
at  time  of  finding  the  spring — a  very  strong  spring. 
Our  hopes  had  almost  gone,  and  faith  was  all  but 
spent.  .  .  .  Chakles  Maggs.'" 

Professor  Barrett  wrote  to  Mr.  Maggs,  and  received 
the  following  interesting  letter  in  reply  : — 

"BowERHiLL  Lodge,  Melksham, 
March  8,  1897. 

"  Briefly  the  facts  are  : — I  sunk  a  well  to  find 
water  for  my  dairy  and  found  none.  Then  I  wrote 
to  Mr.  Tompkins,  who  came  the  following  day.  He 
cut  a  forked  stick  out  of  the  hedge,  and  having 
placed  it  over  the  well,  said,  '  There  is  no  water 
here,'  but  found  a  slight  spring  within  1 0  feet,  too 
small  to  be  of  any  service,  he  reported.  He  walked 
all  over  the  field,  and  said  he  had  not  come  across 
any  spring  at  all.  However,  in  the  extreme  corner 
of  the  field,  a  bunch  of  nettles  was  growing,  and  he 
entered  this,  and  instantly  exclaimed — '  Here  it  is ; 
and  a  good  head  of  water,  too  !  Not  running  away, 
but  just  ready  for  tapping,  and  as  soon  as  you  strike 
it,  it  will  come  surging  up.'  '  How  deep  ? '  '  Not 
over  25  feet.'  He  cut  out  a  turf  to  indicate  the 
spot,  and  we  commenced  sinking  next  day.  The 
person  employed  was  an  old  well-sinker,  and  he 
came  to  me  two  or  three  times  whilst  engaged  in 
sinking,  showing    specimens    of   the    soil    or   marl. 


80  SPIRITUALISM 

assuring  me  there  never  was  water  where  sucli 
existed,  and  it  was  worse  than  useless  to  go  further. 
I  told  him  to  go  on  if  he  had  to  get  to  New  Zealand 
— it  was  my  money,  and  he  need  not  regard  me  nor 
my  pocket.  When  he  had  gone  about  22  feet,  his 
pickaxe  tapped  the  spring  and  the  water  came  up 
like  a  fountain,  and  at  such  a  rate  he  feared  he 
should  be  drowned  before  he  could  get  pulled  up — 
his  mates  being  away !  The  water  rose  rapidly  to 
within  12  or  15  inches  of  the  surface.  We  put  in 
pumps  and  kept  the  water  down  whilst  he  went  a 
little  deeper,  but  the  rush  of  water  was  such  that 
we  had  to  desist  going  lower.  Since  then  we  have 
had  a  splendid  supply.  .  .  .  Chas.  Maggs.''  ^ 

II.  Mr.  John  MuUins  and  Mr.  H.  W.  Mulhns, 
father  and  son,  Colerne,  Chippenham,  Wilts. 

Mr.  Mullins,  sen.,  who  died  rather  more  than  ten 
years  ago,  was  for  thirty  years  engaged  all  over  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  in  finding  water  by  means  of 
the  divining  rod.  He  was  a  professional  well-sinker. 
His  sons  carry  on  their  father's  business.  One  of 
them,  Mr.  H.  W.  Mullins,  inherits  his  father's  faculty. 

Cases  Nos.  62  and  63  in  Professor  Barrett's  Keport 
illustrate  the  powers  of  both  father  and  son. 

Mr.  E.  G.  Allen  writes : — 

"  IIlGHFIELD,  MeTHERINGHAM 

Lincoln,  March  25,  1893. 

"  Having  frequently  availed  myself  of  Mr.  John 
Mullins'  services  during  the  last  twenty  years,  I 
can    say    I    have   never    known    him    to    fail.       I 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  1^5-148, 


'*  THE    DIVINING   ROD  "  81 

have  sunk  six  wells,  two  on  a  heath  farm  about 
30  feet  deep  (surrounding  wells  measuring  about  70 
feet)  in  limestone  rock,  thus  saving  a  great  expense 
in  sinking.  I  took  him  one  morning  to  a  farm 
which  was  at  that  time  farmed  by  the  owner,  the 
Right  Hon.  H.  Chaplin,  M.P.  The  well  in  the  yard 
(nearly  always  dry)  was  about  30  feet  deep.  In  a 
few  minutes,  Mullins,  carrying  in  his  hand  his  twig, 
found  a  good  spring  a  very  short  distance  from  the 
old  well.  A  new  well  was  sunk,  and  at  10  feet  a 
splendid  supply  of  water  was  found.  It  has  never 
failed,  and  has  supplied  the  yards,  &c.,  with  water 
ever  since. 

"  Being  in  want  of  water  for  a  large  grass  field, 
called  '  Catley  Abbey  Field,'  I  went  with  Mullins, 
who  placed  down  a  peg  to  denote  a  spring.  We 
sunk  a  well,  and  bored  70  feet  obtaining  a  good 
supply  of  water.  Being  struck  with  a  peculiarity  in 
its  taste,  it  was  submitted  to  Professor  Attfield, 
Ph.D.,  who  pronounced  it  to  be  the  only  natural 
seltzer  spring  in  the  kingdom.  E.  G.  Allen."  ^ 

The  next  case  in  Professor  Barrett's  collection, 
No.  63,  forms  an  interesting  sequel  to  the  above. 
The  following  is  abridged  from  a  long  report,  in  the 
Lincolnshire  Chronicle  of  8th  June  1895,  of  a  visit  of 
Mr.  H.  W.  Mullins,  son  of  Mr.  John  Mullins,  to 
Catley  Abbey : — 

"  The  object  of  the  Catley  Abbey  Company  in 
sending  for  Mr.  Mullins  was  to  secure  a  well  of  pure 
water  for  bottle- washing.     A  well  on  the  adjoining 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  88-89. 

F 


82  SPIRITUALISM 

farm  of  Mr.  Allen  had  run  dry,  and  recently  the 
seltzer  water  had  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  bottle- 
washing.  Eight  years  ago,  Mr.  J.  Mullins,  the  father 
of  the  family,  located  the  spot  at  Catley,  where  now 
stands  the  only  natural  seltzer  spring  in  Britain.  .  .  . 
Proceeding  to  the  site  of  the  dried-up  well,  MuUins 
took  out  a  V-shaped  twig,  the  forks  of  which  were 
each  about  a  foot  long,  and  walked  slowly  along  the 
ground  a  short  distance  from  the  well.  Suddenly 
the  twig  revolved  .  .  .  and  MuUins  confidently 
asserted  that  he  was  standing  over  a  subterranean 
watercourse.  Proceeding  to  the  other  side  of  the 
well,  he  traced,  or  professed  to  trace,  the  course  of 
the  hidden  stream,  and  marked  a  spot  contiguous  to 
the  buildings  where  he  asserted  a  good  spring  would 
be  tapped  at  a  depth  of  from  120  to  130  feet,  and 
he  advised  that  a  well  should  be  sunk  there. 

"  It  was  told  to  MuUins  that  his  father  asserted 
the  seltzer  spring  flowed  under  a  hedge  on  the 
other  side  of  the  field  in  which  we  were  then  stand- 
ing, and  he  was  asked  to  indicate  the  place.  Start- 
ing at  one  end  of  the  field,  he  walked  close  by  the 
hedge  side.  He  had  gone  about  100  yards  when 
the  twig  began  to  play,  and  digging  his  heel  in  the 
ground,  he  thus  marked  the  spot.  Mr.  Allen,  who 
was  present  when  MuUins,  sen.,  also  located  the 
spring,  sent  a  man  for  a  spade,  and  a  stake  was 
dug  up  which  eight  years  ago  was  driven  in  by  Mr. 
Allen  to  mark  the  place.  MuUins,  jun.,  had  touched 
the  spot  exactly." 

The  same  newspaper  of  23rd  August  1895 
announces  the  result  of  digging  in  the  spot  in- 
dicated as  follows : — 


83 

*'  Our  readers  will  remember  that  a  few  weeks 
ago  our  columns  contained  an  article  relative  to 
the  finding  of  water  at  Catley  Abbey  by  means 
of  hazel  twigs  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Mullins,  the 
eminent  '  dowser/  We  are  now  able  to  state  that 
a  well  having  been  sunk  in  the  position  indicated 
by  Mr.  MuUins,  a  valuable  supply  of  water  has  been 
obtained,  and  that  at  a  depth  of  about  5  feet  less 
than  that  mentioned  by  him.'' 

Professor  Barrett  says :  ''  I  sent  Mr.  Allen  the 
foregoing  account,  and  asked  if  it  were  correct. 
He  replies  that  it  is  perfectly  accurate,  the  facts 
being  most  interesting,  and  occurred  as  stated  in 
the  letter  and  newspaper  report."  ^ 

III.  Mr.  Leicester  Gataker,  Crescent  Gardens, 
Bath,  who  is  a  gentleman  by  birth  and  education, 
soon  after  leaving  Bath  College,  discovered  to  his 
surprise  that  a  forked  twig  revolved  in  his  hands  in 
the  same  way  as  it  did  with  a  local  ''  diviner."  The 
following  is  Case  123  in  Professor  Barrett's  Keport: — 

"  Mr.  Gataker  states  that,  being  engaged  by 
Messrs  Ruscombe  Poole  &  Son,  the  well-known 
solicitors  of  Bridgwater,  he  found  a  spring  less 
than  14  feet  deep,  and  within  3  or  4  yards  of 
a  useless  well,  20  feet  deep,  sunk  prior  to  his 
visit.  In  corroboration  he  encloses  the  following 
letter : — 

"  '  Bridgwater,  Somerset,  July  1896. 

"'We  have  sunk  a  well  in  the  garden,  and  a 
copious  spring  has  been  found  at  13  feet  6  inches, 
which  amply  verifies  your  prediction. 

"'J.  Ruscombe  Poole  &  Son.'" 

1  Proceedings  S.P.Ry  vol.  xiii.  pp.  89-90. 


84!  SPIRITUALISM 

Professor  Barrett  says  :  ''  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Ruscombe 
Poole,  and  asked  him  if  Mr.  Gataker's  statements 
were  correct,  and  he  replies  : — 

** '  BeidgwaTBR,  January  15,  1897. 

'' '  We  return  the  paper  you  sent  us.  As  regards 
the  statement  that  there  was  a  well  about  20  feet 
deep  Avhich  was  useless,  this  is  perfectly  true, 
because  the  water  in  it  was  foul  and  smelt  badly. 
The  supply  found  is  a  very  much  more  copious 
one  than  the  old  well,  which  contained  very  little 
water.' "  ^ 

The  Index  to  Professor  Barrett's  Reports 
enumerates  between  three  and  four  hundred  per- 
sons with  whom  experiments  with  the  Divining 
Rod  are  described.  A  list  of  the  names  of 
"dowsers"  is  also  given.  This  list  includes  the 
names  of  about  seventy  professional  "  dowsers," 
and  of  nearly  as  many  amateur  "  dowsers."  These 
figures  show  the  extent  to  which  the  use  of  the 
rod  prevails,  and  also  the  work  which  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  Reports  involved.  As  a  specimen  of 
the  kind  of  evidence  presented  by  Professor  Barrett 
from  miscellaneous  sources,  the  following  may  be 
quoted : — 

"  In  the  present  Report  numerous  independent 
witnesses  of  unimpeachable  integrity,  and  some 
with  high  scientific  attainments,  testify  to  the 
same  class  of  facts,  viz. : — (1)  The  automatic  and 
apparently  irresistible  motion  of  the  twig  in  the 
hands   often   of  a   complete  novice;   and  (2)   that, 

1  Proceedings  S.P,2l.,  vol.  xiii.  p.  182. 


**  THE   DIVINING   ROD  "  85 

when  the  forked  twig  does  not  move  in  a  person's 
hands,  if  the  dowser  takes  one  link  of  the  twig,  or 
even  places  his  hand  on  the  wrist  of  the  insensitive 
person,  the  previously  inert  twig  now  turns  vigorously 
and  often  breaks  in  two  in  the  effort  to  resist  its 
motion.  As  regards  (1),  see  the  letter  from  the 
President  of  the  Royal  Geological  Society  of  Corn- 
wall on  p.  219/  who  states  that  the  Clerk  of  his 
Parish  Council,  on  finding  the  rod  suddenly  twist 
in  his  hands,  called  out — *  It  is  alive,  sir,  it  is 
alive  ! '  Mr.  Enys  adds  :  '  This  exactly  describes 
the  sensation  when  the  rod  moves.'  .  .  .  Mr. 
Bennett,  of  Oxford,  on  p.  176,  refers  to  the  frantic 
motion  and  the  ultimate  breaking  of  the  twig  '  held 
firmly '  in  the  dowser's  hands.  ...  As  regards  (2), 
see  Mr.  Morton's  letter  to  The  Ungineer,  given  on 
p.  172  ;  Mr.  Morton  found  the  rod  would  not  move 
in  his  hands,  but  when  the  late  John  MuUins,  the 
dowser,  '  laid  his  hands  on  my  wrists  and  grasped 
them  firmly,  then  the  twig  instantly  began  to  turn, 
and  continued  turning  till  he  removed  his  hands. 
He  never  touched  the  twig  while  it  was  in  my 
hands.'  Mr.  Montague  Price  in  his  letter  on  p.  181 
states :  '  I  held  one  side  of  the  forked  rod  myself 
and  the  diviner  the  other,  and  when  we  came  to 
water  [alleged  underground  water]  the  strain  was 
so  great  on  my  fingers  I  was  obliged  to  ask  him  to 
stop.  From  the  position  of  the  rod  it  was  almost 
impossible  for  him  to  produce  the  pressure,  which 
increased  with  the  strength  of  the  stream.'  .  .  . 
"  The  usual  practice,  after  watching  a  dowser  at 

^  The  pages  in  this  paragraph  refer  to  the  present  Report  {i.e. 
Proceedings  S.P.R.y  vol.  xv.  pp.  130-383). 


86  SPIRITUALISM 

work,  is  for  some  of  the  onlookers  to  try  if  the 
forked  twig  will  move  in  their  hands.  Generally 
speaking,  one  or  more,  out  of  perhaps  ten  or  twelve 
persons,  discover,  to  their  astonishment,  that  the 
twig  curls  up  in  their  hands — at  the  same  places 
at  which  it  did  with  the  dowser.  Here  is  such 
an  experience.  Mrs.  Hollands  writes  to  me  as 
follows : — 

***Dene  Park,  Tonbeidge,  October  9,  1899. 

"'In  answer  to  your  note  of  inquiry  about  the 
divining  rod,  the  whole  thing  is  rather  a  long  story, 
but  the  practical  result  of  the  water  dowser's  visit 
was  to  find  water  which  now  supplies  the  house. 
One  of  my  daughters  found  she  had  the  strange 
power  which  moves  the  divining  rod,  and  it  works 
for  her  now  quickly  over  any  spring.  It  is  most 
interesting,  as  you  can  feel  the  rod  move  if  you 
take  one  side  of  it,  and  take  one  of  her  hands,  she 
holding  the  other  end  of  the  rod — it  struggles  up, 
and  would  break  off  altogether  if  you  did  not  allow 
it  to  move.  My  daughter  has  since  found  several 
springs  on  the  estate,  where  we  have  sunk  wells. 
They  have  stood  us  in  very  good  stead  these  last 
dry  seasons.  Minnie  Hollands.' 

"A  similar  experience  is  given  by  Miss  M. 
Craigie  Halkett,  who  published  some  excellent 
photographs  of  a  dowser  at  work  in  Sketch  for 
23rd  August  1899.  Miss  Halkett  writes  to  me 
as  follows : — 

Lauriston,  New  Eltham,  Kent, 
September  8,  1899. 

^  The  man  depicted  in  the  photographs  is  not 
a   water-tinder    by    profession.       He   is    a    tenant 


87 

farmer  residing  at  Catcolt,  a  village  near  Bridg- 
water, and  merely  exercises  the  art  to  oblige  his 
neighbours.  Several  of  the  country  people  in  this 
neighbourhood  (Somerset)  have  the  gift.  It  has 
never  been  known  to  fail.  Personally  I  was  rather 
sceptical  on  the  subject,  but  was  converted  by  the 
stick  turning  in  my  hands  when  standing  over  a 
spring.  There  were  about  six  persons  present  at 
the  time;  all  tried  it,  but  it  would  turn  for  no 
one  excepting  the  man  in  the  picture  and  myself. 
I  experienced  a  sort  of  tingling  sensation  in  my 
arms  and  wrists,  but  otherwise  was  quite  unaware 
when  the  forked  stick  began  to  turn,  it  seemed  to 
go  over  so  quickly. 

" '  Maude  Craigie  Halkett.' 

"  Miss  Halkett  does  not  say  how  she  knew  she  was 
'  standing  over  a  spring '  when  the  twig  turned  in 
her  hands ;  this  statement  is  very  characteristic  of 
many  others  that  have  reached  me."  ^ 

Professor  Barrett's  views  as  to  the  source  of  the 
power  which  moves  the  rod  are  entitled  to  more 
attention  than  those  of  any  one  else.  In  a  chapter 
on  "Theoretical  Conclusions'*  in  the  first  of  his 
two  Reports,  he  says :  '*  Few  will  dispute  the 
proposition  that  the  motion  of  the  forked  twig  is 
due  to  unconscious  muscular  action."  He  then 
gives  a  summary  of  the  causes  which,  he  believes, 
determine  that  action.  Among  these  he  enumerates, 
impressions  from  without  unconsciously  made  upon 
the  dowser's  mind  from  his  own  trained  observation 
and  practice,  and  from  bystanders.     He  also  believed 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  xv.  pp.  279-281. 


88  SPIRITUALISM 

that  in  some  cases  an  impression  appears  to  be 
gained  through  Thought-Transference.  He  did  not, 
however,  think  this  covered  the  whole  ground.  A 
peculiar  pathological  effect  is  produced  on  the 
dowser;  but  to  what  this  is  due  can  only  be 
ascertained  by  persevering  and  unbiassed  investi- 
gation. 

Professor  Barrett's  second  Report  contains  a  long 
and  interesting  discussion  of  this  problem.  His 
views  had  undergone  some  modification.  He  ad- 
heres to  his  previous  view  that  the  *'  curious 
phenomena  attending  the  motion  of  the  so-called 
divining  rod  are  capable  of  explanation  by  causes 
known  to  science ''  {e,g,  involuntary  muscular  action). 
But  he  has  become  more  impressed  with  the  view 
that  the  suggestion  may  arise  "  from  some  kind  of 
transcendental  discernment  possessed  by  the  dowser's 
subconscious  self."  And  he  further  says :  "  For 
my  own  part,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  this 
cause,  though  less  acceptable  to  science,  will  be 
found  to  be  a  truer  explanation  of  the  more  striking 
successes  of  a  good  dowser."  In  conclusion  Pro- 
fessor Barrett  says  still  more  definitely:  "This 
subconscious  perceptive  power,  commonly  called 
*  clairvoyance,'  may  provisionally  be  taken  as  the 
explanation  of  those  successes  of  the  dowser  which 
are  inexplicable  on  any  grounds  at  present  known 
to  science."^ 

^  Proceedings   S.P.R.,   vol.    xv.   p.    314.       See    also    the    whole 
discussion  of  which  this  page  is  the  conclusion. 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS         89 

CHAPTER   VIII 
THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE  DRAWINGS 

There  is  one,  and  perhaps  only  one  phase  of  the 
great  subject  of  Thought -Transference  or  Telepathy 
the  manifestations  of  which  can  legitimately  be  in- 
cluded among  physical  phenomena.  Involuntary 
drawing  or  scribbling  is  a  phenomenon  of  very 
common  occurrence.  But  when  such  an  involuntary 
drawing  turns  out  to  be  a  more  or  less  exact  copy  of 
a  drawing  which  the  involuntary  draughtsman  has 
never  seen ;  and  still  further  when  it  turns  out  that 
the  original  drawing  has  been  drawn  by  another 
person  with  the  deliberate  purpose  of  impressing  it 
on  the  mind  of  the  involuntary  draughtsman,  the 
subject  assumes  an  entirely  new  interest.  This, 
however,  is  the  history  of  those  series  of  "  Thought- 
Transference  Drawings  "  which  have  been  published 
by  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  They  are 
scattered  through  several  volumes  of  its  publications. 
Through  the  kindness  of  the  Council  of  that  Society 
I  am  able  to  put  before  the  reader  the  largest 
selection  of  these  drawings  which  has  appeared. 
The  drawings  are  the  results  of  several  different 
groups  of  experimenters  in  different  parts  of  the 
country;  and  the  selection  has  been  made  from  as 
many  groups  as  possible,  In  all  cases  facsimiles 
of  the  original  drawing  and  of  the  reproduction  are 
given.  The  earlier  series  done  under  the  auspices  of 
a  Committee  of  the  Society  do  not  represent  successes 
picked  out  of  a  large  number  of  failures,  but  include 


90  SPIMTUALISM 

all  the  attempts  made  at  the  time.  The  number  that 
can  be  considered  total  failures  in  any  of  the  trials 
is  exceedingly  small.  Any  conceivable  chance  or 
coincidence  is  entirely  inadequate  to  account  for  the 
similarity  in  the  great  majority  of  cases. 

The  "  First  Keport  on  Thought-Keading "  was 
written  by  Professor  W.  F.  Barrett,  Mr.  Gurney,  and 
Mr.  Myers,  and  was  read  at  the  first  General  Meeting 
of  the  Society  on  17th  July  1882.  In  order  to 
illustrate  the  then  state  of  scientific  opinion,  the 
writers  say  :  "  The  present  state  of  scientific  opinion 
throughout  the  world  is  not  only  hostile  to  any 
belief  in  the  possibility  of  transmitting  a  single 
mental  concept  except  through  the  ordinary  channels 
of  sensations,  but,  generally  speaking,  it  is  hostile 
even  to  any  inquiry  upon  the  matter.  Every  leading 
physiologist  and  psychologist  down  to  the  present 
time  has  relegated  what,  for  want  of  a  better  term, 
has  been  called  "Thought-Reading"  to  the  limbo 
of  explored  fallacies."-^  A  second  Report  by  the 
same  writers  was  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Society 
in  the  same  year.  In  this  Report  the  first  series  of 
"  Thought-Transference  Drawings  "  was  described. 

The  method  of  proceeding  was  as  follows : — A. 
makes  an  outline  sketch  of  a  geometrical  figure,  or 
of  something  a  little  more  elaborate.  B.  sees  this 
sketch,  and  carrying  it  in  his  mind  goes  and  stands 
behind  C,  who  sits  with  a  pencil  and  paper  before 
him  and  draws  the  impression  which  arises  in  his 
mind.  Precautions  are  taken  against  the  conveyance 
of  information  by  any  ordinary  means.  Except  in 
a  few  of  the  earliest  trials  no  contact  between  any  of 

1  Proceedings  S.P,R.,  vol.  i.  p.  13. 


THOUGHT-TBAKSFERENCE   DRAWINGS        91 

the  parties  was  permitted.  B.  and  C.  are  called 
respectively  "  transmitter  "  and  "  receiver." 

In  December  1882,  Mr.  Myers  and  Mr.  Gurney 
paid  a  visit  to  Brighton  to  personally  investigate 
some  joint  experiments  of  Mr.  Douglas  Blackburn 
and  Mr.  G.  Albert  Smith.  Both  Mr.  Blackburn  and 
Mr.  Smith  were  then,  or  soon  after  became,  members 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  The  ex- 
periments were  made  in  Mr.  Myers  and  Mr.  Gurney's 
own  lodgings.  The  following  plan,  arranged  in 
regard  to  some  experiments  made  on  4th  December, 
is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Myers :  "  One  of  us  com- 
pletely out  of  sight  of  S.  [Mr.  Smith]  drew  some 
figure  at  random,  the  figure  being  of  such  a  char- 
acter that  its  shape  could  not  be  easily  conveyed 
in  words.  .  .  .  The  figure,  drawn  by  us,  was  then 
shown  to  B.  [Mr.  Blackburn]  for  a  few  moments, 
S.  being  seated  all  the  time  with  his  back  to  us, 
and  blindfolded,  in  a  distant  part  of  the  same 
room,  and  subsequently  in  an  adjoining  room.  B. 
looked  at  the  figure  drawn;  then  held  S.'s  hand 
for  a  while ;  then  released  it.  After  being  re- 
leased, S.  (who  remained  blindfolded)  drew  the 
impression  of  a  figure  which  he  had  received.  .  .  . 
In  no  case  was  there  the  smallest  possibility  that 
S.  could  have  seen  the  original  figure;  and  in  no 
case  did  B.  touch  S.,  even  in  the  slightest  manner, 
while  the  figure  was  being  drawn." 

The  whole  series  of  drawings  done  in  this  way,  on 
that  occasion,  is  given  in  the  Report  in  the  S.P,R. 
Proceedings,  They  were  nine  in  number.  We  have 
selected  two,  Nos.  5  and  9. 

No.  5  calls  for  no  special  remark. 


92 


SPIRITUALISM 


No.  5. 


ORIGINAL 


REPRODUCTION 


No.  9. 


a 


ORIGINAL 


REPRODUCTION 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE   DRAWINGS         93 

When  the  reproduction  of  No.  9  was  drawn,  Mr. 
S.  touched  the  spot  to  which  the  arrow  points,  and 
said  :  "  There  is  something  more  there,  but  I  cannot 
tell  what  it  is." 

In  the  experiments  made  subsequently  to  these, 
the  conditions  were  still  more  stringent,  and  no 
contact  whatever  was  allowed  between  Mr.  Blackburn 
and  Mr.  Smith;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  striking 
and  successful  results  were  obtained. 

A  few  weeks  later,  in  January  1883,  at  the  invi- 
tation of  the  Committee  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  Mr.  Blackburn  and  Mr.  Smith  came  from 
Brighton,  and  a  series  of  experiments  was  conducted 
at  the  Rooms  the  Society  then  occupied  in  Dean's 
Yard,  Westminster.  For  the  Report  embodpng  the 
results  of  these  experiments,  Mr.  Myers,  Mr.  Gurney, 
and  Professor  Barrett  are  specially  responsible.  Two 
drawings,  Nos.  10  and  11,  are  selected  from  a  series 
of  twenty-two  made  on  this  occasion. 

As  to  No.  10,  Mr.  S.  had  no  idea  that  the  original 
was  not  a  geometrical  diagram.  Nor  had  he  any 
clue  given  him  as  to  the  character  of  No.  11.  He 
added  the  line  marked  h  some  time  after  he  had 
drawn  the  line  marked  a,  saying  that  he  saw  "  a  line 
parallel  to  another  somewhere." 

The  authors  of  this  Report  say :  "  It  is  almost 
needless  to  point  out  that  in  these  observations  so 
foreign  to  our  common  experience,  it  is  indispensable 
to  be  minutely  careful  and  conscientious  in  recording 
the  exact  conditions  of  each  experiment."  The 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Report  itself  to  show  how 
this  was  carried  out ;  and  also  to  show  how 
exhaustively  every  possibility  was    considered    by 


94  SPIRITUALISM 

means  of  which  information  could  be  conceived  to 
be  conveyed  through  any  recognised  channel. 


-~^m~  ^^^P^ 


ORIGINAL 
NO.  rO« 


EEPEODUCTION 


Mr.  Smith  had  no  idea  that  the  original  was  not  a 
geometrical  diagram. 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS         95 

An  entirely  different  group  of  experimenters  set 
to  work  in  Liverpool.  Mr.  Malcolm  Guthrie,  J.P., 
was  a  partner  in  one  of  the  large  drapery  estab- 
lishments, and  Mr.  James  Birchall  was  the  Hon. 
Secretary  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
of  Liverpool.  Their  interest  was  aroused  in  the 
subject  of  Thought-Transference,  and  they  carried 


No.  IK 


OEXGINAL 


REPRODUCTION 


Mr.  Smith  had  no  idea  that  the  original  was  not  a  geometrical 
diagram.  He  added  line  h  some  time  after  he  had  drawn  line 
a,  '*  seeing  a  line  parallel  to  another  somewhere." 


out  a  very  large  number  of  experiments  with  some 
of  the  young  ladies  employed  in  Mr.  Guthrie's 
establishment,  who,  *'  amusing  themselves  after 
business  hours,  found  that  certain  of  their  number, 
when  blindfolded,  were  able  to  name  very  correctly 
figures  selected  from  an  almanack  suspended  on  the 
wall  of  the  room,  when   their  companions   having 


SPIKITUALISM 


hold  of  their  hands,  fixed  their  attention  on  some 
particular  day  of  the  month/'  This  led  to  serious 
experiments,  including  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Thought-Transference  Drawings.  The  conditions 
were  carefully  guarded,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases 
no  contact  was  permitted.  There  were  many  failures, 
but   a   large  number  of  successes.     Assistance 


as 


No.  2. 


ORIGINAL  REPRODUCTION 

Mr.  Guthrie  and  Miss  E.  no  contact. 

"  transmitter  "  was  also  given  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Hughes, 
a  member  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research. 
In  a  report  by  Mr.  Guthrie,  published  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Society,  sixteen  of  these  drawings 
are  given.  Nos.  2  and  1 5  are  selected.  In  neither 
of  these  was  any  contact  between  "  transmitter  "  and 
*'  receiver  "  permitted.     In  No.  2,  Mr.  Guthrie  was 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE   DRAWINGS         97 

"transmitter"  and  Miss  Edwards  "receiver/'  In 
No.  15,  Mr.  F.  S.  Hughes  was  "transmitter''  and 
Miss  Edwards  "receiver."  With  regard  to  the 
second,  Miss  Edwards  said,  "It  is  like  a  mask 
at  a  pantomime,"  and  immediately  droAV  the  re- 
production. 

Mr.  Malcolm  remarks  in  his  Keport :  "  The  draw- 
ings must  speak  for  themselves.  The  principal 
facts  to  be  borne  in  mind  are  that  they  have  been 

No.  15. 


OEIGINAL  EBPEODUCTION 

Mr.  Hughes  and  Miss  E.  no  Miss  E.  said,  '*  It  is  like  a  mask 

contact.  at  a  pantomime,"  and  im- 

mediately drew  as  above. 

executed  through  the  instrumentality  as  agents 
[transmitters]  of  persons  of  unquestioned  probity, 
and  that  the  responsibility  for  them  is  spread  over 
a  considerable  group  of  such  persons,  while  the 
conditions  to  be  observed  were  so  simple — for  they 
amounted  really  to  nothing  more  than  taking  care 
that  the  original  should  not  be  seen  by  the  subject 
[receiver] — that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  suppose 
them  to  have  been  eluded." 

G 


98  SPIRITUALISM 

Mr.  Guthrie,  having  satisfied  himself  as  to  the 
reality  of  the  phenomena  of  Thought-Transference, 
as  manifested  by  the  drawings,  and  in  other  ways, 
endeavoured  to  interest  the  scientific  men  of  Liver- 
pool. He  naturally  appealed  among  others  to  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge,  who  was  then  Professor  of  Physics  in 
University  College,  Liverpool.  He  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  subsequently  gave  "  An  Account  of 
Some  Experiments  in  Thought-Transference  *'  to  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research,  of  which  he  was 
already  an  unofficial  member,  and  which  account 
is  published  in  the  Society's  Proceedings, 

The  Report  commences  with  a  tribute,  "  since  it 
bears  on  the  questions  of  responsibility  and  genuine- 
ness," to  the  important  position  Mr.  Guthrie  held 
in  Liverpool,  as  an  active  member  of  the  governing 
bodies  of  several  public  institutions,  including  the 
University  College.     Sir  Ohver  Lodge  then  says : — 

"  After  Mr.  Guthrie  had  laboriously  carried  out  a 
long  series  of  experiments  ...  he  set  about  en- 
deavouring to  convince  such  students  of  science  as 
he  could  lay  his  hands  upon  in  Liverpool ;  and  with 
this  object  he  appealed  to  me,  among  others,  to 
come  and  witness,  and  within  limits  modify,  the 
experiments  in  such  a  way  as  would  satisfy  me  of 
their  genuineness  and  perfect  good  faith.  Yielding 
to  his  entreaty,  I  consented,  and  have  been,  I 
suppose,  at  some  dozen  sittings,  at  first  simply 
looking  on  so  as  to  grasp  the  phenomena,  but 
afterwards  taking  charge  of  the  experiments.  .  .  . 
In  this  way  I  had  every  opportunity  of  examining 
and  varying  the  minute  conditions  of  the  pheno- 
mena, so  as  to  satisfy  myself  of  their  genuine  and 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE   DRAWINGS         99 

objective  character,  in  the  same  way  as  one  is 
accustomed  to  satisfy  oneself  as  to  the  truth  and 
genuineness  of  any  ordinary  physical  fact. 

"  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  modify  the  experi- 
ments very  largely,  in  other  words  to  try  essentially 
new  ones.  ...  I  only  regarded  it  as  my  business  to 
satisfy  myself  as  to  the  genuineness  and  authenticity 
of  the  phenomena  already  described  by  Mr.  Guthrie. 
If  I  had  merely  witnessed  facts  as  a  passive  spec- 
tator I  should  most  certainly  not  publicly  report 
upon  them.  So  long  as  one  is  bound  to  accept 
imposed  conditions  and  merely  witness  what  goes 
on,  I  have  no  confidence  in  my  own  penetration, 
and  am  perfectly  sure  that  a  conjurer  could  impose 
upon  me,  possibly  even  to  the  extent  of  making  me 
think  that  he  was  not  imposing  on  me ;  but  when 
one  has  the  control  of  the  circumstances,  can  change 
them  at  will,  and  arrange  one's  own  experiments, 
one  gradually  acquires  a  belief  in  the  phenomena 
observed  quite  comparable  to  that  induced  by  the 
repetition  of  ordinary  physical  experiments." 

Sir  Oliver  Lodge  then  describes  in  detail  the 
method  of  procedure,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
says : — 

''  We  have  many  times  succeeded  with  agents 
['  transmitters ']  quite  disconnected  with  the  per- 
cipient ['receiver']  in  ordinary  life  and  sometimes 
complete  strangers  to  them.  Mr.  Birchall,  the  head- 
master of  the  Birkdale  Industrial  School,  frequently 
acted;  and  the  house  physician  at  the  Eye  and 
Ear  Hospital,  Dr.  Shears,  had  a  successful  experi- 
ment, acting  alone,  on  his  first  and  only  visit. 
All  suspicion  of  a  pre-arranged  code  is  thus  ren- 


100  SPIRITUALISM 

dered  impossible  even  to  outsiders  who  are  unable 
to  witness  the  obvious  fairness  of  all  the  experi- 
ments/' 

Sir  Oliver  Lodge  then  gives  the  details  of  twenty- 
seven  experiments.  From  these  four  are  selected. 
Descriptions,  in  Sir  0.  Lodge's  own  words,  are 
condensed. 

(1)  ''  Mr.  Birchall,  agent — Miss  R,  percipient; 
holding  hands.  No  one  else  present  except  myself. 
A  drawing  of  a  Union  Jack  pattern.  As  usual  in 
drawing  experiments,  Miss  R.  remained  silent  for 
perhaps  a  minute ;  then  she  said,  '  Now  I  am  ready.' 
I  hid  the  object ;  she  took  off  the  handkerchief  and 

No.  1. 


^^^^^^ 


ORIGINAL;,  REPRODUCTION 

proceeded  to  draw  on  paper  placed  ready  in  front 
of  her.  She  this  time  drew  all  the  lines  of  the 
figure  except  the  horizontal  middle  one.  She  was 
obviously  much  tempted  to  draw  this,  and  indeed 
began  it  two  or  three  times  faintly,  but  ultimately 
said,  '  No,  I'm  not  sure,'  and  stopped." 

(2)  ''  Double    object.      I    arranged    the    double 

object   between    Miss    R d    and  Miss  E.,  who 

happened  to  be  sitting  nearly  facing  one  another. 

Miss  R d  and  Miss  E.  both  acting  as  agents. 

The  drawing  was  a  square  on  one  side  of  the  paper, 

and  a  cross  on  the  other.     Miss  R d  looked  at 

the  side  with  the  square  on  it.  Miss  E.  looked  at  the 
side  with  the  cross.  Neither  knew  what  the  other 
was  looking  at — nor  did  the  percipient  know  that 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS       101 

anything  unusual  was  being  tried.  There  was  no 
contact.  Very  soon,  Miss  K.  (percipient)  said,  '  I 
see  things  moving  about.  ...  I  seem  to  see  two 
things.  ...  I  see  first  one  up  there  and  then 
one  down  there.  ...  I  can  t  see  either  distinctly.' 
'Well,  anyhow,  draw  what  you   have  seen.'     She 


□  X 


No.  2. 


OBKHNAL  HEPRODUCnON 

took  off  the  bandage  and  drew  first  a  square,  and 
then  said,  '  Then  there  was  the  other  thing  as  well, 
.  .  .  afterwards  they  seemed  to  go  into  one,'  and 
she  drew  a  cross  inside  the  square  from  corner  to 
corner,  adding  afterwards,  '  I  don't  know  what  made 
me  put  it  inside.'  " 

(3)  ''  Object — a  drawing  of  the  outline  of  a  flag. 
Miss  R.  as  percipient,  in  contact  with  Miss  E.  as 
agent.  Very  quickly  Miss  R.  said,  '  It's  a  little 
flag.'     And  when  asked  to  draw,  she  drew  it  fairly 


No.  3. 


^ 


OEIGINAL  SE£R0IJUaTI01l 

well  but  perverted.  I  showed  her  the  flag  (as  usual 
after  a  success),  and  then  took  it  away  to  the  draw- 
ing place  to  fetch  something  else.  I  made  another 
drawing,  but  instead  of  bringing  it  I  brought  the 
back  again  and  set  it  up  in  the  same  place  as 


102  SPIRITUALISM 

before,  but  inverted.     There  was  no  contact   this 

time.     Miss  R d   and   Miss  E.  were  acting  as 

agents.  After  some  time  Miss  R.  said,  '  No,  I 
can't  see  anything  this  time.  I  still  see  that  flag. 
.  .  .  The  flag  keeps  bothering  me.  ...  I  shan  t 
do  it  this  time.'  Presently  I  said,  '  Well,  draw 
what  you  saw  anyway.'  She  said,  '  I  only  saw  the 
same  flag,  but  perhaps  it  had  a  cross  on  it.'  So 
she  drew  a  flag  in  the  same  position  as  before,  but 
added  a  cross  to  it." 

(4)  "  Object — a  teapot  cut   out  of  silver  paper. 

Present — Dr.  Herdman,  Miss  R d,  and  Miss  R. 

Miss  E.  percipient.  Miss  R.  holding  percipient's 
hands,  but  all  thinking  of  the  object.  Told  nothing. 
She  said,  '  Something  light.  .  ,  .  No  colour.  .  ,  . 
Looks  like  a  duck.  .  .  .  Like  a  silver  duck.  .  ,  . 
Something  oval.  .  .  ,  Head  at  one  end  and  tail  at 
the  other.'  .  ,  .  The  object  being  rather  large,  was 
then  moved  further  back,  so  that  it  might  be  more 

No.  4. 
*  OBIGIBAb  BEPBODUCnON 

easily  grasped  by  the  agents  as  a  whole,  but  per- 
cipient persisted  that  it  was  like  a  duck.  On 
being  told  to  unbandage  and  draw,  she  drew  a  rude 
and  perverted  copy  of  the  teapot,  but  didn't  know 
what  it  was  unless  it  was  a  duck.  Dr.  Herdman 
then  explained  that  he  had  been  thinking  all  the 
time  how  like  a  duck  the  original  teapot  was,  and 
in  fact  had  been  thinking  more  of  ducks  than 
teapots." 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS      103 

In  the  autumn  of  1891  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  was 
staying  for  a  fortnight  in  the  house  of  Herr  von 
Lyro  at  Portschach  am  See,  Carinthia.  While  there 
he  found  that  the  two  adult  daughters  of  his  host 
were  adepts  in  the  so-called  "  willing  game."  The 
speed  and  accuracy  with  which  the  willed  action 
was  performed  left  little  doubt  in  his  mind  that 
there  was  some  genuine  thought-transference  power. 
He  obtained  permission  to  make  a  series  of  test 
experiments,  the  two  sisters  acting  as  agent  and 
percipient  alternately.  He  hoped  gradually  to 
secure  the  phenomena  without  contact  of  any  kind. 
But  unfortunately  contact  seemed  essential,  though 
of  the  slightest  description,  for  instance  through  the 
backs  of  the  knuckles.  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  says: 
"  It  was  interesting  and  new  to  me  to  see  how 
clearly  the  effect  seemed  to  depend  on  contact,  and 
how  abruptly  it  ceased  when  contact  was  broken. 
While  guessing  through  a  pack  of  cards,  for 
instance,  rapidly  and  continuously,  I  sometimes 
allowed  contact,  and  sometimes  stopped  it ;  and  the 
guesses  changed,  from  frequently  correct  to  quite 
wild,  directly  the  knuckles  or  finger  tips,  or  any 
part  of  the  skin  of  the  two  hands  ceased  to  touch. 
It  was  almost  like  breaking  an  electric  circuit." 

As  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  remarks,  it  is  obvious  how 
strongly  this  suggests  the  idea  of  a  code,  and  that 
therefore  this  flaw  prevents  these  experiments  from 
having  any  value  as  tests,  or  as  establishing  de  novo 
the  existence  of  the  genuine  power.  But  apart  from 
the  moral  conviction  that  unfair  practices  were  ex- 
tremely unlikely,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  says  that  there 
was  a  sufficient  amount  of  internal  evidence  derived 


104 


SPIRITUALISM 


from  the  facts  themselves  to  satisfy  him  that  no 
code  was  used.  As  examples,  two  from  a  series  of 
twelve  drawings  are  given. 


'/ 


ORIGINAL 


REPRODUCTION 


ORIGINAL 


REPRODUCTIONS 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS       105 

In  1894,  Mr.  Henry  G.  Rawson,  barrister-at-law, 
made  a  long  and  interesting  series  of  experiments  in 
Thought-Transference,  a  Report  of  which  was  pub- 
lished in  vol.  xi.  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research.  The  Report  includes  fifteen 
originals  and  reproductions  of  drawings.  Two  sisters, 
Mrs.  L.  and  Mrs.  B.,  were  the  operators  ;  and  on  the 


ORIGINAL 


REPRODUCTION 


two  evenings  when  the  two  series  of  drawings  were 
executed,  from  which  the  accompanying  selections 
are  made,  Mr.  Rawson  was  the  only  other  person 
present.  On  both  occasions,  Mrs.  L.  sat  on  a  chair 
near  the  fire,  Mrs.  R.  sat  at  a  table  many  feet  off, 
with  her  back  to  Mrs.  L.,  and  Mr.  Rawson  stood  or 
sat  where  he  could  see  both  ladies. 

Nos.  5  and  6  of  the  first  series  are  here  reproduced. 


106 


SPIRITUALISM 


The  following  selection  is  from  the  second 
series.  Mr.  Kawson  says  respecting  it :  "  Mrs.  L. 
began  drawing  within  ten  to  fifteen  seconds,  and 
presently  said,  '  I  am  drawing  something  I  can  see/ 


OBIGINAL 


EEPRODUCTION 


The  clock  was  in  front  of  her  on  the  mantelpiece." 
It  would  seem  as  though  the  idea  of  a  clock  was 
thought-transferred  at  once ;  but  that  the  working 
out  of  the  idea  in  the  mind  was  modified  by  what 
the  percipient  happened  to  see  before  her. 

A  final  selection  of  Thought-Transference  Draw- 
ings will  be  taken  from  the  records  of  several  series 
of  experiments  of  different  kinds  made  in  1897  and 
1898  bj  Professor  A.   P.   Chattock,  of  University 


THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE    DRAWINGS      107 


No.  6. 


3 


College,  Bristol.     The  drawings  were  made  with  two 
old    students  of   Professor 
Chattock's,    Mr.   Wedmore 
and  Mr.  Clinker. 

No.  6  of  a  series  done  at 
Harrow,  September  1897. 
Agents,  Professor  Chat- 
tock  and  K.  C.  Clinker. 
Percipient,  E.  B.  Wedmore. 
E.  B.  W.  about  three  yards 
from  agents,  with  lamp 
and  table  between.  To  re- 
production (1)  these  words 
are  added:  ''I  thought  of 
these,  and  then  suggested 
we  should  try  three  musical 
notes."  And  to  reproduc- 
tion (2)  these  words  are  added:  ''Got  this  result." 

No.  1  of  a  series  done  in  London,  a  little  later. 

No.  1. 


OKIGINAL. 


^ 


KEPRODUCTION  (1). 


EEPKODUCTION  (2). 


ORIGINAL  EEPKODUCTION 

Agent,  E.  B.  Wedmore.     Percipient,  R.  Wedmore. 


108  SPIRITUALISM 

The  reproduction  was  drawn  in  about  one  and  a 
half  minutes  after  the  sitting  commenced. 

The  Keport  of  the  various  series  of  experiments  is 
printed  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research  for  November  1898. 

Instead  of  giving  detailed  references  to  all  the 
quotations  in  the  descriptions  of  these  various 
Thought-Transference  Drawings,  a  list  of  the  several 
Reports  is  appended.  They  can  be  referred  to  for 
further  information.^ 

Second  Report  of  the  S.P.R.  Committee.    Proceedings,  vol.  i., 

part  ii,  1882.     See  p.  92. 
Third   Report  of  the   S.P.R.  Committee.     Proceedings,  vol.  i., 

part  iii.,  1883.     See  pp.  94,  95. 
Experiments   in  Thought-Transference,  by  Malcolm   Guthrie. 

Proceedings,  vol.  ii.,  part  v.,  1884.     See  pp.  96,  97. 
Experiments   in   Thought-Transference,    by   Oliver  J.   Lodge, 

D.Sc.     Proceedings,  vol.  ii.,  part  vi.,  1884.    See  pp.  100-102. 
Some  Recent  Thought-Transference  Experiments,  by  Oliver  J. 

Lodge.     Proceedings,  vol.  vii.,  part  xx.,  1891.     See  p.  104. 
Experiments  in  Thought-Transference,  by  Henry  G.  Rawson. 

Proceedings,  vol.  xi.,  part  xxvii.,  1894.     See  pp.  105,  106. 
Experiments    in    Thought-Transference,    by    Professor    A.    P. 

Chattock.     Journal  S.P.B.,  vol.  xiii.,  No.  153,  Nov.  1898. 

See  p.  107. 

During  the  last  few  years  no  important  addition 
appears  to  have  been  made  to  the  series  of  Thought- 
Transference  Drawings.  A  revival  of  similar  experi- 
ments would  be  of  great  interest  and  value. 

The  question  may  fairly  be   asked,  What  have 

^  A  list  of  all  the  publications  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  with  prices  of  the  different  volumes  and  parts,  can  be 
obtained  from  the  Secretary,  at  the  Society's  Rooms,  20  Hanover 
Square,  London,  W. 


MATERIALISATIONS  109 

these  Thought-Transference  Drawings  to  do  with 
the  Physical  Phenomena  of  SpirituaUsm  ?  A  reply 
is  easily  given.  The  reader  is  referred  to  a  passage 
in  the  concluding  chapter,  quoted  from  Mr.  Myers, 
in  which  he  claims  an  exalted  position  for  Telepathy, 
as  almost  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Spiritualistic 
Philosophy.  He  speaks  of  the  beginning  of  Tele- 
pathy as  a  "quasi-mechanical  transference  of  ideas 
and  images  from  one  to  another  brain."  The 
Thought  -  Transference  Drawings  constitute  the 
primary  evidence  of  this.  They  may  be  looked 
upon  as  constituting  the  physical  basis  of  a  belief 
in  Thought-Transference,  and  therefore  as  the 
physical  basis  of  a  belief  in  Telepathy,  the  action 
of  which,  as  Mr.  Myers  says,  "  was  traced  across  a 
gulf  greater  than  any  space  of  earth  or  ocean — 
it  bridged  the  interval  between  spirits  incarnate 
and  discarnate."  Thus  we  may  look  upon  these 
Thought-Transference  Drawings  as  supplying  the 
chief — perhaps  the  only — physical  basis  for  a  belief 
in  one  of  the  main  doctrines  of  spiritualism. 
Hence  they  legitimately  find  a  place  in  the  present 
examination. 


CHAPTER   IX 

MATERIALISATIONS 

By  "  materialisation,"  in  this  chapter,  is  not  meant 
the  production  of  more  or  less  complete  portions  of 
the  human  body — generally  hands — a  phenomenon 
alleged  to  be  frequent  in  spiritualistic  circles.     A 


110  SPIRITUALISM 

"materialisation"  of  the  whole  figure  is  meant, 
the  production  of  a  figure  which  to  the  spectator 
appears  as  a  new  human  being,  so  to  speak,  occa- 
sionally exhibiting  signs  of  independent  organic 
life.  Such  a  phenomenon  would  be  the  most 
astounding  that  can  well  be  imagined.  I  am  not 
in  a  position  to  offer  any  scientific  evidence  in  its 
support.  By  far  the  majority  of  the  accounts  which 
have  been  published  of  full  form  "  materialisations  " 
are  destitute  of  any  evidential  value,  and  in  many 
cases  the  circumstantial  evidence  for  fraud  is  strong. 
Were  it  not  for  a  small  number  of  cases  which 
present  primd  facie  evidence  of  a  different  character, 
the  question  of  the  reality  of  this  phase  of  "  medium- 
ship  "  would  be  scarcely  worth  raising.  But  the 
existence  of  even  a  small  amount  of  evidence  of 
such  a  kind  raises  the  question  into  a  different 
position,  to  one  which  reasonably  demands  the 
searching  investigation  of  scientific  men.  I  pro- 
pose to  give  one  illustration  only  of  this  better 
class  of  evidence,  but  it  is  one  in  which  common- 
sense  precautions  against  deception  seem  to  have 
been  carefully  taken. 

The  following  extracts  are  from  a  report  made 
by  Mr.  J.  Slater,  and  published  in  The  Two  Worlds 
of  1 5  th  February  1895:— 

"  Is  Materialisation  a  Fact  ?     Yes.     Scientific 
Proof. 

"After  the  recent  suspicions  and  exposures  of 
materialising  mediums,  I  determined  to  take  the 
first    opportunity    of   applying    further    and    more 


MATERIALISATIONS  111 

stringent  tests,  which  should  absolutely  preclude 
the  possibility  of  deception.  For  this  purpose  I 
wrote  to  the  Middlesbro'  materialising  medium, 
asking  for  a  test  sitting,  and  stating  the  conditions 
— which  he  readily  accepted.  .  .  . 

"  The  conditions  were  that  he  should  strip 
to  the  skin  'naked  as  he  was  born/  and  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses  dress  in  clothes  to  be  supplied 
by  me.  .  .  . 

"I  made  him  understand  that  after  he  had 
dressed  in  the  clothes  supplied  by  me,  he  must 
consider  himself  in  my  charge,  and  must  not 
attempt  to  do  or  touch  anything,  or  go  anywhere 
except  to  the  chair  provided  for  him.  He  readily 
agreed  to  this,  and  imposed  upon  himself  a  still 
further  test,  viz.  that  as  soon  as  the  phenomena  had 
ceased,  he  would  instantly  place  himself  in  our 
charge,  to  be  held  fast  until  the  light  was  turned 
up,  and  the  company  had  retired  to  the  next 
room,  the  same  process  of  undressing  being  gone 
through." 

This  was  all  carried  out  preliminary  to  a  seance, 
and  a  final  examination  of  the  room  was  made. 

"The  light  was  then  lowered  so  that  we  could 
just  see  each  other — the  company  sang  a  hymn,  a 
prayer  was  offered,  and  then  came  the  crisis — to  be 
or  not  to  be?  In  less  than  a  minute  a  form  of 
exceeding  whiteness  appeared  at  the  opening  of  the 
curtain.  I  should  judge  the  height  to  be  three  feet 
six  inches  or  a  little  more.  We  could  not  distin- 
guish the  face.  The  form  appeared  twice.  Then  a 
child  form  appeared,  its  raiment  white,  luminous 
and  very  distinct.     Then  came  the  well-known  and 


112  SPIKITUALISM 

lively  black  child;  opening  the  curtain  with  her  small 
arms  and  bowing  repeatedly  to  us.  This  child 
would  be  about  two  and  a  half  feet  in  height.  The 
folds  of  shining  drapery  hung  from  her  head  in 
gipsy  fashion,  which  she  opened  for  us  to  see  her 
round  black  face.  I  was  quite  close  to  her,  but  did 
not  pat  her  face  and  woolly  head  as  I  have  done 
before.  She  climbed  upon  the  medium's  knee, 
and  then  came  close  to  us  again,  and  then  dis- 
appeared. .  .  . 

"The  meeting  then  concluded  with  prayer  and 
doxology.  We  then  seized  hold  of  the  medium's 
hands,  and  held  him  until  the  company  retired,  and 
then  went  through  the  undressing  and  dressing 
process  as  before,  every  article  of  clothing  being 
rigidly  examined  as  removed.  We  then  searched 
the  corner  as  before,  and  found  all  intact,  and  not 
a  sign  anywhere  of  the  abundance  of  drapery  we 
had  seen." 

Sixteen  ladies  and  gentlemen  present  at  the 
meeting  allowed  their  names  to  be  published  as  a 
testimony  to  what  they  saw.  The  evidential  value 
of  the  seance  depends  entirely  on  the  honesty  and 
truthfulness  of  Mr.  Slater  and  of  the  two  friends 
who  assisted  him  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  pre- 
cautions taken. 

Mr.  Slater  had  been  in  the  York  Post  Office  for 
over  thirty  years,  and  for  nearly  seven  years  before 
his  death  in  1902  had  occupied  the  position  of 
superintendent.  Mr.  Slater  was  a  frequent  contri- 
butor to  the  newspaper  press  of  his  own  district, 
and  also  occasionally  to  other  periodicals.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  in- 


"spirit  photography"  113 

telligence  and  force  of  character,  and  to  have  been 
widely  respected.  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  J.  P. 
Slater,  a  son  of  Mr.  J.  Slater,  and  who  is  in  the 
Post  OjSfice  at  York,  that  the  name  of  the 
"Middlesbro'  medium"  was  Ken  win,  and  that  he 
was  an  "  ordinary  working  man ''  in  some  steel 
works.     He  died  six  or  seven  years  ago. 


CHAPTER  X 

"SPIRIT    PHOTOGRAPHY" 

For  over  thirty  years  photographs  have  been  taken 
in  London,  on  which,  when  they  were  developed, 
figures  appeared  for  the  presence  of  which  there 
seemed  to  be  no  physical  cause.  They  appeared 
both  with  professional  photographers  and  in  private 
studios.  Two  or  three  professional  photographers 
laid  themselves  out  to  encourage  such  appearances. 
Others  were  annoyed  by  them.  One  in  particular, 
whom  I  knew  personally,  was  greatly  annoyed  in 
this  way,  fearing  it  might  injure  his  business. 
Naturally,  but  unfortunately,  the  term  "spirit 
photographs  '*  was  invented.  Unfortunately,  because, 
granting  the  reality  and  genuineness  of  some  of  the 
results,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  a  "  spirit "  stood 
or  sat  for  its  portrait,  as  a  human  sitter  does. 
Naturally  also,  various  explanations  were  soon 
alleged,  two  being,  either  that  the  plates  had  been 
used  before,  and  had  been  imperfectly  cleaned,  or 
that  the  results  were  produced  by  deliberate  artifice 
and  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  photographer.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  artificial  results  can  be  obtained 


114  SPIRITUALISM 

in  a  variety  of  ways,-  whicli  are  extremely  difficult, 
if  not  impossible  to  distinguish  from  the  professed 
genuine  article.  It  may  therefore  be  said  that  no 
examination  of  a  professed  ''  spirit  photograph,"  or 
as  we  should  prefer  to  call  it,  a  "psychic  photo- 
graph,'' is  sufficient  to  determine  its  nature  and 
origin.  The  true  test  must  be  sought  for  in  the 
conditions  under  which  the  photograph  was  taken. 
Very  few  of  those  who  have  had  to  do  with  ''  spirit 
photography  "  have  possessed  the  necessary  technical 
knowledge,  and  also  been  sufficiently  careful,  in  the 
various  stages  of  the  process.  The  result  is  that 
scarcely  any  of  the  photographs  shown  as  ''  spirit 
photographs"  possess  any  evidential  value.  In 
common  with  several  other  alleged  phenomena,  but 
little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  subject  by 
scientific  men,  or  by  trained  experimenters. 

The  most  notable  exception  to  this  which  I  am 
able  to  quote  is  that  of  the  late  Mr.  J.  Traill  Taylor, 
who  was  for  a  considerable  time  the  editor  of 
the  British  Journal  of  Fhotography,  The  following 
quotations  are  from  a  paper  on  "  Spirit  Photography  " 
by  Mr.  Taylor.  It  was  originally  read  before  the 
London  and  Provincial  Photographic  Association 
in  March  1893,  and  was  reprinted  in  the  British 
Journal  of  Photography  for  26th  May  1904,  shortly 
after  Mr.  Taylor  s  death. 

"  Spirit  photography,  so  called,  has  of  late  been 
asserting  its  existence  in  such  a  manner  and  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  warrant  competent  men  in 
making  an  investigation,  conducted  under  stringent 
test  conditions,  into  the  circumstances  under  which 
such  photographs  are  produced,  and  exposing  the 


"spirit  photography"  115 

fraud  should  it  prove  to  be  such,  instead  of  pooh- 
poohing  it  as  insensate  because  we  do  not  under- 
stand how  it  can  be  otherwise — a  position  that 
scarcely  commends  itself  as  intelligent  or  philoso- 
phical. If,  in  what  follows,  I  call  it  '  spirit  photo- 
graphy '  instead  of  psychic  photography,  it  is  only 
in  deference  to  a  nomenclature  that  extensively 
prevails.  ...  I  approach  the  subject  merely  as  a 
photographer." 

Mr.  Traill  Taylor  then  gives  a  history  of  the 
earlier  manifestations  of  "  Spirit  Photography,"  and 
goes  on  to  explain  how  striking  phenomena  in 
photographing  what  is  invisible  to  the  eye  may  be 
produced  by  the  agency  of  fluorescence.  He  quotes 
the  demonstration  by  Dr.  Gladstone,  F.R.S.,  at  the 
Bradford  Meeting  of  the  British  Association  in  1873, 
showing  that  invisible  drawings  on  white  cards  have 
produced  bold  and  clear  photographs  when  no  eye 
could  see  the  drawings  themselves.  Hence,  as  Mr. 
Taylor  says,  the  photographing  of  an  invisible 
image  is  not  scientifically  impossible. 

Mr.  Taylor  then  proceeds  to  describe  some  per- 
sonal experiments.  He  says  :  ''  For  several  years 
I  have  experienced  a  strong  desire  to  ascertain  by 
personal  investigation  the  amount  of  truth  in  the 
ever-recurring  allegation  that  figures  other  than 
those  visually  present  in  the  room  appeared  on  a 
sensitive  plate.  .  .  .  Mr.  D.,  of  Glasgow,  in  whose 
presence  psychic  photographs  have  long  been  alleged 
to  be  obtained,  was  lately  in  London  on  a  visit,  and 
a  mutual  friend  got  him  to  consent  to  extend  his 
stay  in  order  that  I  might  try  to  get  a  psychic 
photograph    under    test    conditions.       To    this    he 


116  SPIRITUALISM 

willingly  agreed.  My  conditions  were  exceedingly 
simple,  were  courteously  expressed  to  the  host,  and 
entirely  acquiesced  in.  They  were,  that  I  for  the 
nonce  would  assume  them  all  to  be  tricksters,  and 
to  guard  against  fraud,  should  use  my  own  camera 
and  unopened  packages  of  dry  plates  purchased 
from  dealers  of  repute,  and  that  I  should  be  excused 
from  allowing  a  plate  to  go  out  of  my  own  hand 
till  after  development  unless  I  felt  otherwise  dis- 
posed ;  but  that  as  I  was  to  treat  them  as  under 
suspicion,  so  must  they  treat  me,  and  that  every 
act  I  performed  must  be  in  the  presence  of  two 
witnesses ;  nay,  that  I  would  set  a  watch  upon  my 
own  camera  in  the  guise  of  a  duplicate  one  of  the 
same  focus — in  other  words,  I  would  use  a  binocular 
stereoscopic  camera  and  dictate  all  the  conditions 
of  operation.  .  .  . 

"  Dr.  G.  was  the  first  sitter,  and  for  a  reason  known 
to  myself,  I  used  a  monocular  camera.  I  myself 
took  the  plate  out  of  a  packet  just  previously  ripped 
up  under  the  surveillance  of  my  two  detectives.  I 
placed  the  slide  in  my  pocket,  and  exposed  it  by  mag- 
nesium ribbon  which  I  held  in  my  own  hand,  keeping 
one  eye,  as  it  were,  on  the  sitter,  and  the  other  on 
the  camera.  There  was  no  background.  I  myself 
took  the  plate  from  the  dark  slide,  and,  under  the 
eyes  of  the  two  detectives,  placed  it  in  the  developing 
dish.  Between  the  camera  and  the  sitter  a  female 
figure  was  developed,  rather  in  a  more  pronounced 
form  than  that  of  the  sitter.  ...  I  submit  this 
picture.  ...  I  do  not  recognise  her  or  any  of  the 
other  figures  I  obtained,  as  like  any  one  I  know.  .  .  . 

"  Many  experiments  of  like  nature  followed ;  on 


** SPIRIT  photography"  117 

some  plates  were  abnormal  appearances,  on  others 
none.  All  this  time,  Mr.  D.  the  medium,  during 
the  exposure  of  the  plates,  was  quite  inactive.  .  .  . 

"  The  psychic  figures  behaved  badly.  Some  were  in 
focus.  Others  not  so.  Some  were  lighted  from  the 
right,  while  the  sitter  was  so  from  the  left ;  some 
were  comely,  .  .  .  others  not  so.  Some  monopolised 
the  major  portion  of  the  plate,  quite  obliterating  the 
material  sitters.  Others  were  as  if  an  atrociously- 
badly  vignetted  portrait  .  .  .  were  held  up  behind 
the  sitter.  But  here  is  the  point : — Not  one  of  these 
figures  which  came  out  so  strongly  in  the  negative, 
was  visible  in  any  form  or  shape  to  me  during  the 
time  of  exposure  in  the  camera,  and  I  vouch  in  the 
strongest  manner  for  the  fact  that  no  one  whatever 
had  an  opportunity  of  tampering  with  any  plate 
anterior  to  its  being  placed  in  the  dark  slide  or 
immediately  preceding  development.  Pictorially 
they  are  vile,  but  how  came  they  there  ? 

"  Now  all  this  time,  I  imagine  you  are  wondering 
how  the  stereoscopic  camera  was  behaving  itself  as 
such.  It  is  due  to  the  psychic  entities  to  say  that 
whatever  was  produced  on  one  half  of  the  stereo- 
scopic plates  was  produced  on  the  other,  alike  good 
or  bad  in  definition.  But  on  a  careful  examination 
of  one  which  was  rather  better  than  the  other,  ...  I 
deduce  this  fact,  that  the  impressing  of  the  spirit 
form  was  not  consentaneous  with  that  of  the  sitter. 
This  I  consider  an  important  discovery.  I  carefully 
examined  one  in  the  stereoscope,  and  found  that, 
while  the  two  sitters  were  stereoscopic  per  se,  the 
psychic  figure  was  absolutely  flat.  I  also  found 
that  the  psychic   figure  was  at  least  a    millimetre 


118  SPIRITUALISM 

higher  up  in  one  than  the  other.  Now,  as  both 
had  been  simultaneously  exposed,  it  follows  to 
demonstration  that,  although  both  were  correctly 
placed  vertically  in  relation  to  the  particular  sitter 
behind  whom  the  figure  appeared,  and  not  so  hori- 
zontally, this  figure  had  not  only  not  been  impressed 
on  the  plate  simultaneously  with  the  two  gentlemen 
forming  the  group,  but  had  not  been  formed  by  the 
lens  at  all,  and  that  therefore  the  psychic  image 
might  be  produced  without  a  camera.  I  think 
this  is  a  fair  deduction.  But  still  the  question 
obtrudes  :  How  came  these  figures  there  ?  I  again 
assert  that  the  plates  were  not  tampered  with  by 
either  myself  or  any  one  present.  Are  they 
crystallisations  of  thought  ?  Have  lens  and  light 
really  nothing  to  do  with  their  formation  ?  The 
whole  subject  was  mysterious  enough  on  the  hypo- 
thesis of  an  invisible  spirit,  whether  a  thought 
projection  or  an  actual  spirit,  being  really  there  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  sitter,  but  it  is  now  a  thousand 
times  more  so.  .  .  . 

''In  the  foregoing  I  have  confined  myself  as 
closely  as  possible  to  narrating  how  I  conducted 
a  photographic  experiment  open  to  every  one  to 
make,  avoiding  stating  any  hypothesis  or  belief  of 
my  own  on  the  subject." 

Two  years  later,  in  May  1895,  the  spiritualists 
held  a  General  Conference  in  London,  the  proceed- 
ings of  which  extended  over  several  days.  At  one 
of  the  meetings  Mr.  Traill  Taylor  read  a  paper  under 
the  title — "  Are  Spirit  Photographs  necessarily  the 
Photographs  of  Spirits  ? "  An  abstract  of  this 
paper  appears  in  Light  (18th  May  1895),  and  it  is 


''SPIRIT   photography"  119 

printed  in  full  in  Borderland  (July  1895).  At 
the  commencement  of  the  paper,  Mr.  Taylor  ex- 
plained that  light  is  the  agent  in  the  production 
of  an  ordinary  photograph ;  but  he  says :  ''  I  have 
ascertained,  to  my  own  satisfaction  at  any  rate,  that 
light  so  called,  so  far  as  concerns  the  experiments  I 
have  made,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  production 
of  a  psychic  picture,  and  that  the  lens  and  camera 
of  the  photographer  are  consequently  useless  incum- 
brances." Following  this  up,  Mr.  Taylor  says  :  *'  It 
was  the  realisation  of  this  that  enabled  me  at  a 
certain  seance  recently  held,  at  which  many  cameras 
were  in  requisition,  to  obtain  certain  abnormal  jfigures 
on  my  plates  when  all  others  failed  to  do  so.  After 
withdrawing  the  slide  from  the  camera,  I  wrapped  it 
up  in  the  velvet  focussing  cloth  and  requested  the 
medium  to  hold  it  in  his  hand,  giving  him  no  clue 
as  to  my  reason  for  doing  so.  A  general  conversation 
favoured  the  delay  in  proceeding  to  the  developing 
room  for  about  five  or  more  minutes,  during  which 
the  medium  still  held  the  wrapped-up  slide.  I  then 
relieved  him  of  it,  and  in  the  presence  of  others 
applied  the  developer,  which  brought  to  view  figures 
in  addition  to  that  of  the  sitter." 

In  making  a  categorical  reply  to  the  question 
which  forms  the  title  of  his  paper,  Mr.  Taylor 
replies — "  No  " — and  gives  various  ''  surmises  "  to 
account  for  recognisable  likenesses  having  been 
obtained.  At  the  end  of  his  paper  Mr.  Taylor 
says : — 

"  The  influence  of  the  mind  of  the  medium  in  the 
obtaining  of  psychographs  might  be  deduced  from 
the  fact  of  pictures  having  been  obtained  of  angels 


120  SPIRITUALISM 

with  wings,  a  still  popular  belief  of  some,  as  ridicu- 
lous in  its  conception  as  it  is  false  in  its  anatomy, 
but  still  no  less  true  in  its  photo-pictorial  outcome. 
This  does  not  in  the  slightest  degree  impair  the 
genuineness  and  honesty  of  the  medium,  but  it 
inspires  me,  a  disbeliever  in  the  wing  notion,  with 
the  belief  that  spirit-photographs  are  not  necessarily 
photographs  of  spirits. 

'*  A  concluding  word :  A  medium  may,  on  passing 
through  a  picture  gallery,  become  impressed  by  some 
picture  which,  although  forgotten  soon  after,  may 
yet  make  a  persistent  appearance  on  his  negative  on 
subsequent  occasions.  My  caution  is  that  if  such  be 
published  as  a  spirit  photograph,  care  must  be  taken 
that  no  copyright  of  such  picture  is  infringed.  I 
have  cases  of  this  nature  in  my  mind's  eye,  but  time 
does  not  permit  of  this  being  enlarged  upon,  else  I 
could  have  recited  several  instances." 

It  would  be  extremely  interesting  if  we  could 
have  had  these  "  several  instances  "  recited.  At  all 
events,  what  Mr.  Traill  Taylor  says  is  suggestive, 
and  is  well  worth  being  borne  in  mind  by  any  one 
investigating  the  subject.  Some  careful  experiments 
have  been  made  of  late  years,  mostly,  so  far  as  I 
have  heard,  with  inconclusive,  or  discouraging  results. 
But  I  am  not  aware  of  any  serious  sustained  study 
of  the  question  by  any  English  photographer  since 
Mr.  Traill  Taylor's  death. 


SUMMING   UP    THE    WHOLE    MATTER        121 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  SUMMING  UP  OF  THE  WHOLE  MATTER 

In  the  preceding  chapters  the  chief  endeavour  has 
been  to  present  the  scientific  evidence  in  favour  of 
the  reality  of  a  mass  of  alleged  phenomena,  so  far 
unrecognised  by  science  as  facts.     The  chief  object 
is    to    arouse    interest,   and   to  excite   inquiry   and 
investigation.       It    is  difficult   to   imagine   a  more 
attractive   undiscovered    country   than   that   which] 
lies  just  outside  „ the  realm  of  recognised   science,/ 
in  the  direction  of  such  phenomena  as  have  been 
under  consideration.     It  is  a  country  teeming  with 
wonders,  and  with  miraculous  occurrences  of  endless 
variety.     Miraculous  to  us,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
not  subject   to  any  '*  Laws  of  Nature"  which  we. 
have  discovered.     The  marvel  is  that  there  is  not  \ 
a  rush  of  explorers  into  fields  incomparably  more 
fascinating  than  North  or  South  Pole  can  present,  I 
and  containing   more  treasure    than  gold-fields   or  / 
diamond  mines  can  ever  yield. 

The  two  chapters  devoted  to  phenomena  occurring 
in  the  presence  of  D.  D.  Home  and  W.  Stainton 
Moses  demand  special  reference.  It  is  difficult  to 
imagine  two  men  differing  more  widely  in  almost 
every  respect.  Mr.  Myers  describes  the  even  tenour  / 
of  Mr.  Stainton  Moses  "  straightforward  and  repu-l 
table  hfe  "  as  "  inwoven  with  a  chain  of  mysteries, 
which  .  .  .  make  that  life  one  of  the  most  extra-' 
ordinary  which  our  century  has  seen."  ^     He  was  a 

1  Proceedings  S.PM.y  vol.  ix.  p.  252. 


122  SPIRITUALISM 

scholar,  a  literary  man,  and  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England.  He  had  no  worldly  ambition 
or  fondness  for  what  is  called  "  Society."  Mr.  D.  D. 
Home,  on  the  contrary,  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  a  man  who  could  have  been  termed  a  religious 
character,  or  spiritually-minded,  nor  did  he  give 
evidence  of  intellectual  talent.  But  he  had  gained 
access  to  some  of  the  highest  society  in  Europe. 
And  yet  both  men  were  "  mediums "  for  these 
curious  phenomena,  to  a  wonderful  extent,  both  as 
regards  the  amount  and  the  variety  of  the  mani- 
festations. Although  the  two  men  were  so  different, 
there  is  a  parallelism  in  the  phenomena  in  so  many 
respects,  that  a  similar  origin  or  source  seems  inevi- 
tably suggested.  There  were  peculiarities  special 
to  each,  but  untouched  movements  of  heavy  articles, 
"  levitations,"  lights,  and  sounds,  were  phenomena 
common  to  both.  From  whence  does  this  "  chain 
of  mysteries "  come  ?  Is  the  source  to  be  sought 
for  in  undiscovered  powers  and  faculties  of  the  men 
themselves,  or  in  the  action  of  other  intelligences  ? 
That  is  a  problem  which  must  be  left.  It  is  outside 
the  scope  of  this  inquiry,  which  deals  solely  with  the 
establishment  of  physical  facts.  But  where  can  any 
other  field  be  found  of  equal  interest  ?  Difficulties 
and  perplexities  meet  the  explorer  in  abundance. 
But  they  exist  in  order  to  be  overcome  by  the  same 
steady  persistence  which  has  attained  its  reward  in 
many  another  direction. 

With  regard  to  two  other  chapters  I  desire  also 
to  make  a  special  remark — those  on  "  Materialisa- 
tions "  and  "  Spirit  Photography."  Both  are  physical 
phenomena.     But  I  desire  to  make  it  plain  that  no 


SUMMING   UP   THE    WHOLE    MATTER        123 

claim  is  made  of  being  able  to  present  evidence 
with  regard  to  either  of  these  subjects  which  should 
satisfy  the  reasonable  demands  of  science.  It  may 
be  asked — Why  then  introduce  them  at  all  ?  For 
two  reasons :  (1)  Because  the  evidence  in  favour  of 
both  is  only  just  outside  the  boundary  of  scientific 
demonstration.  (2)  Because  of  the  extreme  interest 
of  the  phenomena  themselves. 

As  to  *'  Materialisations."  Out  of  an  immense 
mass  of  testimony,  most  of  it  of  no  evidential 
value,  one  case  has  been  selected  where  more  than 
ordinary  care  seems  to  have  been  taken.  But  the 
phenomenon  is  so  marvellous,  especially  in  its  more 
perfect  alleged  phases,  when  the  "  materialised " 
form  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from  a  living 
breathing  human  being,  that  the  inquirer  is  bound 
to  hold  his  judgment  in  suspense  until  the  last 
possible  moment. 

Again   as   to    "  Spirit    Photography."     The   term 
*'  Psychic  Photography  "  would  be  far  preferable,  as 
implying   no    theory.      The   experiences   of  Mr.   J. 
Traill   Taylor,   which   I   have   selected  as  the  sole 
illustration,   appear   to   leave  no   moral  doubt  butf 
that  under  certain  circumstances   photographs  are\ 
produced  which  known  laws  are  unable  to  explain. 
Definite  and  recognisable  human  figures  and  faces  j 
are  thus  obtained.     But  this  is   a   very  long  way 
from  proving  that  "  spirits  "  sit  or  stand  before  the 
camera  for  their  photographs  to  be  taken  ! 

If  some  trained  experimenter  in  scientific  research, 
who  possesses  an  unbiassed  mind,  would  devote  him- 
self for  two  or  three  years  to  the  study  of  either  of 
these  classes  of  phenomena,  it  is  almost  a  certainty 


124  SPIRITUALISM 

that  he  would  be  richly  rewarded.  Is  there  no  one 
who  will  enter. upon  the  task? 

There  is  one  large  group  of  evidence,  embracing 
most  of  the  phenomena  which  have  been  under  con- 
sideration, from  which  I  had  hoped  to  make  copious 
selections,  with  pleasure  to  myself,  and  with  interest 
to  the  reader.  No  living  scientist  has  bestowed  so 
large  an  amount  of  study  on  '*  certain  phenomena 
usually  termed  spiritualistic "  as  Sir  William 
Crookes.  As  long  ago  as  the  year  1874,  Sir 
William  Crookes  gave  permission  for  the  reprint 
of  a  limited  number  of  copies  of  various  articles 
which  he  had  contributed  to  the  periodical 
literature  of  the  day.  These,  with  some  other 
original  matter,  were  published  under  the  title  of 
"  Researches  in  the  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism." 
That  volume  has  long  been  out  of  print.  In  1890, 
an  article  by  Sir  William  Crookes,  under  the  title  of 
*'  Notes  of  Seances  with  D.  D.  Home,*'  was  pub- 
lished in  volume  vi.  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research.  He  also  referred  to 
his  experiences  with  D.  D.  Home,  in  two  addresses 
delivered  at  meetings  of  the  Society  in  1894  and 
in  1899.  These  are  reported  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Society.  Sir  William  Crookes  also  devoted  a  por- 
tion of  his  address,  as  President  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation m  1898,  to  a  reference  to  the  part  he  took 
many  years  before  in  psychical  research.  This  por- 
tion of  the  address  was  reprinted  in  volume  xiv. 
of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society. 

Considerations,  which  cannot  be  entered  into 
here,  compel  me,  however,  to  be  content  with 
referring  the  reader  to  the  publications  mentioned, 


SUMMING   UP   THE    WHOLE    MATTER        125 

a  study  of  which  will,  I  think,  bring  conviction  that 
the  scientific  evidence  they  contain  would,  even  if  it 
stood  alone,  be  amply  sufficient  to  prove  the  reality 
of  tjie  alleged  phenomena.-^ 

We  are  now  warranted  in  the  assertion  that  we 
have  arrived  at  this  position:  That  the  careful 
reader  is  compelled  to  admit  that  the  evidence  in 
favour  of  a  variety  of  alleged  physical  phenomena 
being  undoubted  facts,  is  too  strong  to  be  resisted. 
We  are  accustomed  to  say  in  ordinary  life,  the  proof 
of  this  or  that  is  complete.  The  man  of  science  is 
accustomed  to  say  in  his  own  sphere  of  inquiry,  the 
proof  of  this  or  that  is  complete.  Applying  the 
same  rules  of  evidence  to  physical  phenomena  gene- 
rally called  spiritualistic,  we  are  bound  to  admit 
that  in  regard  to  many  of  them  the  proof  of  their 
reality  is  complete.  Yet  these  facts  are  not  recog- 
nised by  the  world  of  science,  and  are  scarcely 
deemed  worthy  of  any  serious  attention  by  the 
majority  of  intelligent  people. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  consider  for  a  few 
moments  the  mode  in  which  new  knowledge  enters 
the  mind.  By  new  knowledge  is  meant  not  ex-[ 
tension  of  existing  knowledge,  but  facts  of  a  newl 
order,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  rising  of  a  heavy! 
dining  table  into  the  air  without  any  recognised 
physical  cause  being  apparent.  The  difficulty  of 
admitting  new  facts  of  this  kind  to  the  mind  is  not 

1  The  references  to  these  contributions  are :  Proceedings  S.P.R, 
vol.  vi.  pp.  98-127  ;  Journal  S.P.R,  vol.  vi.  pp.  341-345,  and  vol.  ix. 
pp.  147-148  ;  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  2-5.  **  Researches  in 
the  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism  "  will  be  found  in  the  Libraries  of 
the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  and  of  the  London  Spiritualist 
Alliance. 


126  SPIRITUALISM 

confined  to  any  one  class  of  people.  Indeed  the 
difficulty  appears  to  be  greater  in  the  case  of  highly 
educated  people  than  among  the  comparatively  un- 
informed. Sir  Oliver  Lodge  has  recently  said : 
"  What  does  a  '  proof '  mean  ?  A  proof  means 
destroying  the  isolation  of  an  observed  fact  or 
experience  by  linking  it  on  with  all  pre-existent 
knowledge ;  it  means  the  bringing  it  into  its  place 
in  the  system  of  knowledge;  and  it  affords  the 
same  sort  of  gratification  as  finding  the  right  place 
for  a  queer-shaped  piece  in  a  puzzle-map.  Do  not 
let  these  puzzle-maps  go  out  of  fashion  ;  they  afford 
a  most  useful  psychological  illustration ;  the  founda- 
tion of  every  organised  system  of  truth  is  bound  up 
with  them.  ...  It  is  because  a  number  of  pheno- 
mena, such  as  clairvoyance,  physical  movement 
without  contact,  and  other  apparent  abnormalities 
and  unusualnesses,  cannot  at  present  be  linked  on 
with  the  rest  of  knowledge  in  a  coherent  stream — 
it  is  for  that  reason  that  they  are  not,  as  yet,  gene- 
rally recognised  as  true;  they  stand  at  present 
outside  the  realms  of  science  ;  they  will  be  presently 
incorporated  into  that  kingdom,  and  annexed  by  the 
progress  of  discovery."  ^ 

Mr.  F.  C.  S.  Schiller,  in  an  article  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  expresses 
a  similar  thought  in  a  different  manner.     He  says : — 

*'  A  mind  unwilling  to  believe,  or  even  undesirous 
to  be  instructed,  our  weightiest  evidence  must  ever 
fail  to  impress.  It  will  insist  on  taking  that  evi- 
dence in  bits,  and  rejecting  it  item  by  item.     The 

^  "  School  Teaching  and  School  Reform,"  by  Sir  Oliver  Lodge, 
pp.  89,  90. 


SUMMING   UP   THE   WHOLE    MATTER        127 

man  therefore  who  announces  his  intention  of 
waiting  until  a  single  absolutely  conclusive  bit  of 
evidence  turns  up,  is  really  a  man  not  open  to  con- 
viction, and  if  he  is  a  logician,  he  knows  it  For 
modern  logic  has  made  it  plain  that  single  facts 
can  never  be  '  proved/  except  by  their  coherence  in 
a  system.  But  as  all  the  facts  come  singly,  any 
one  who  dismisses  them  one  by  one,  is  destroying 
the  conditions  under  which  the  conviction  of  new 
truth  could  arise  in  his  mind."  -^ 

Mr.  Myers,  in  summing  up  the  evidence  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Stainton  Moses,  dwells  on  the  importance 
of  simple  repetition.  This,  though  practically  effec- 
tive, is  scarcely  a  scientific  consideration.  A  fact  is 
none  the  less  a  fact  on  account  of  the  rarity  of  its 
occurrence,  any  more  than  the  existence  of  a  rare 
animal  or  plant  is  rendered  questionable  by  the  fewness 
of  the  number  of  specimens  which  have  been  found. 

An  interesting  chapter  might  be  written  under 
the  title  of "  The  History  of  the  Growth  in  the 
Belief  in  Hypnotism  during  the  last  Twenty-five 
Years."  One  episode  that  would  be  included  in 
such  a  history  may  be  worth  quoting  here  as  illus- 
trating the  present  subject.  As  recently  as  1891, 
the  British  Medical  Association  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee, consisting  of  eleven  of  its  number,  "  to 
investigate  the  nature  of  the  phenomena  of  hyp- 
notism, its  value  as  a  therapeutic  agent,  and  the 
propriety  of  using  it."  This  Committee  presented 
a  Report  at  the  Annual  Meeting  in  the  following 
year.  In  the  first  paragraph  they  solemnly  stated 
that  they  "  have  satisfied  themselves  of  the  genuine- 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R.^  vol.  xviii.  p.  419. 


128  SPIRITUALISM 

ness  of  the  hypnotic  state  "  (!).  They  also  expressed 
the  ''  opinion  that  as  a  therapeutic  agent  hypnotism 
is  frequently  effective  in  relieving  pain,  procuring 
sleep,  and  alleviating  many  functional  ailments  "  (!). 
They  are  also  of  opinion  that  its  ''  employment  for 
therapeutic  purposes  should  be  confined  to  qualified 
medical  men." 

The  Association  referred  this  unanimous  Keport 
of  its  Committee  back  for  further  consideration. 
In  1893  the  Committee  presented  it  again,  with  the 
addition  of  an  important  Appendix,  consisting  of 
"  some  documentary  evidence  upon  which  the  Eeport 
was  based."  On  this  occasion  it  was  moved  and 
seconded,  that  the  Report  should  lie  on  the  table. 
It  was  suggested  that  the  amendment  to  this  effect 
be  so  altered  as  to  read  that  the  Report  be  received 
only,  and  the  Committee  thanked  for  their  services. 
Finally,  a  resolution  to  this  effect  was  carried.  The 
most  strongly  worded  recommendation  of  the  Report 
was  that  some  legal  restriction  should  be  placed  on 
public  exhibitions  of  hypnotic  phenomena.  This 
was  only  twelve  years  ago,  and  was  five  or  six  years 
subsequent  to  the  publication  of  some  of  Mr. 
Edmund  Gurney's  most  important  series  of  ex- 
periments in  hypnotism  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research.  The  "  reception 
only  "  of  the  Report  was  also  two  or  three  years  sub- 
sequent to  a  demonstration  of  hypnotic  anaesthesia 
which  Dr.  J.  Milne  Bramwell  gave  at  Leeds  to  a 
large  gathering  of  medical  men.  One  result  of  that 
gathering  was  that  Dr.  Bramwell  decided  to  abandon 
general  practice  and  devote  himself  to  hypnotic 
work.     Dr.  Bramwell  says  : — 


SUMMING   UP   THE   WHOLE    MATTER        129 

''  As  I  was  well  aware  of  the  fate  that  had 
awaited  earlier  pioneers  in  the  same  movement,  I 
naturally  expected  to  meet  with  opposition  and 
misrepresentation.  These  have  been  encountered, 
it  is  true  ;  but  the  friendly  help  and  encouragement 
received  have  been  immeasurably  greater.  I  have 
also  had  many  opportunities  of  placing  my  views 
before  my  professional  brethren,  both  by  writing 
and  speaking ; "  to  which  Dr.  Bramwell  somewhat 
naively  adds — ''opportunities  all  the  more  valued, 
because  almost  always  unsolicited.''  -^ 

An  incident  which  occurred  in  connection  with 
the  most  sensational  case  of  "levitation"  recorded 
of  D.  D.  Home,  is  very  instructive  as  illustrating 
the  great  care  that  is  needful  in  estimating  the 
value  of  testimony  regarding  spiritualistic  pheno- 
mena, even  of  statements  made  by  persons  of 
established  reputation  and  position. 

The  Joint  Report  of  Professor  Barrett  and  Mr. 
Myers,  from  which  extracts  were  made  in  Chapter  V., 
says : — ' 

"  Lords  Lindsay  and  Adare  had  printed  a  state- 
ment that  Home  floated  out  of  the  window,  and 
in  at  another,  in  Ashley  Place,  S.W.,  16  th  December 
1868.  A  third  person.  Captain  Wynne,  was  pre- 
sent at  the  time,  but  had  written  no  separate 
account.  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  an  article  in  the  Con- 
temporary Review  for  January  1876,  thus  commented 
on  the  incident : — 

"'The  most  diverse  accounts  of  the  facts  of  a 
seance  will  be  given  by  a  believer  and  a  sceptic. 

^  See  "Hypnotism:    Its  History,    Practice,  and  Theory,"  by  J. 
Milne  Bramwell,  M.B.,  CM.,  1903,  pp.  36-39. 

I 


130  SPIRITUALISM 

A  whole  party  of  believers  will  affirm  that  they 
saw  Mr.  Home  float  out  of  one  window,  and  in  at 
another,  while  a  single  honest  sceptic  declares  that 
Mr.  Home  was  sitting  in  his  chair  all  the  time. 
And  in  this  last  case  we  have  an  example  of  a  fact, 
of  which  there  is  ample  illustration,  that  during 
the  prevalence  of  an  epidemic  delusion,  the  honest 
testimony  of  any  number  of  individuals  on  one 
side,  if  given  under  a  prepossession,  is  of  no  more 
weight  than  that  of  a  single  adverse  witness — if 
so  much/ 

''  This  passage  was  of  course  quoted  as  implying 
that  Captain  Wynne  had  somewhere  made  a  state- 
ment contradicting  Lords  Lindsay  and  Adare.  Home 
wrote  to  him  to  inquire ;  and  he  replied  ...  in  the 
following  terms : — 

" '  I  remember  that  Dr.  Carpenter  wrote  some 
nonsense  about  that  trip  of  yours  along  the  side  of 
the  house  in  Ashley  Place.  I  wrote  to  the  Medium 
to  say  that  I  was  present  as  a  witness.  Now  I 
don't  think  that  any  one  who  knows  me  would  for 
one  moment  say  that  I  was  a  victim  to  hallucina- 
tion or  any  other  humbug  of  the  kind.  The  fact 
of  your  having  gone  out  of  the  window  and  in  at 
the  other  I  can  swear  to.' " 

"It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  instance  selected 
by  Dr.  Carpenter  to  prove  the  existence  of  a 
hallucination  —  by  the  exemption  of  one  person 
present  from  the  illusion — was  of  a  very  unfortu- 
nate kind ;  suggesting,  indeed,  that  a  controversialist 
thus  driven  to  draw  on  his  imagination  for  his  facts 
must  have  been  conscious  of  a  weak  case.'*  ^ 

1  Journal  S.P,R,  vol.  iv.  pp.  108-109. 


SUMMING   UP    THE    WHOLE    MATTER        131 

It  may  be  interesting,  in  concluding  this  brief 
examination  into  one  branch  of  the  great  subject 
of  "  Spiritualism,"  to  bring  together  a  few  of  the 
impressions  produced  on  the  minds  of  some  of  the 
leading  investigators.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  branch  of  the  subject  which  we  have  been 
studying  may  be  looked  upon  as  representing  the 
lowest  steps  only  of  a  great  staircase  which  ascends, 
until,  to  our  gaze,  it  is  lost  in  unknown  infinite 
heights.  It  is  only  the  foot  of  a  ladder,  to  use 
another  simile,  resting  on  the  material  earth,  which 
we  have  been  considering;  at  most  the  two  or 
three  lowest  rungs.  But  to  the  eyes  of  some,  even 
now  and  here,  glimpses  of  angels  ascending  and 
descending  are  visible. 

Five  names  stand  out  prominently  before  all 
others  among  the  earlier  investigators  of  the  last 
thirty  years— Sir  William  Crookes  and  Professor 
W.  F.  Barrett,  who  are  still  with  us :  and  Professor 
Henry  Sidgwick,  Edmund  Gurney,  and  F.  W.  H. 
Myers,  who  have  gone.  Sir  William  Crookes'  work 
in  other  directions  has  been  all-absorbing,  so  that 
all  he  has  been  able  to  tell  us  during  the  last 
few  years,  in  relation  to  our  present  subject,  is 
that  he  had  nothing  to  add  to,  and  nothing  to 
retract  from  what  he  has  said  in  the  past.  In  his 
address  as  President  of  the  British  Association  in 
1898,  Sir  William  Crookes  said,  after  referring  to 
his  work  of  thirty  years  ago : — 

"I  think  I  see  a  little  further  now.  I  have 
glimpses  of  something  like  coherence  among  the 
strange  elusive  phenomena,  of  something  like 
continuity  between  those   unexplained    forces,  and 


132  SPIRITUALISM 

laws  already  known.  .  .  .  Were  I  now  introducing 
for  the  first  time  these  inquiries  to  the  world  of 
science,  I  should  choose  a  starting-point  different 
from  that  of  old.  It  would  be  well  to  begin  with 
Telepathy ;  with  the  fundamental  law,  as  I  believe 
it  to  be,  that  thoughts  and  images  may  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  mind  to  another  without  the  agency 
of  the  recognised  organs  of  sense — that  knowledge 
may  enter  the  human  mind  without  being  com- 
municated in  any  hitherto  known  or  recognised 
ways."  ^ 

For  Professor  Barrett's  present  views  the  reader  is 
referred  to  his  address  as  President  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  delivered  in  January  1904.^ 
It  is  full  of  interest,  but  is  not  easy  to  quote  from. 
Speaking  of  "  spiritualistic  phenomena,'*  he  says : 
''  We  must  all  agree  that  indiscriminate  condemna- 
tion on  the  one  hand,  and  ignorant  credulity 
on  the  other,  are  the  two  most  mischievous 
elements  with  which  we  are  confronted  in  connec- 
tion with  this  subject.  It  is  because  we,  as  a 
Society,  feel  that  in  the  fearless  pursuit  of  truth, 
it  is  the  paramount  duty  of  science  to  lead  the 
way,  that  the  scornful  attitude  of  the  scientific 
world  towards  even  the  investigation  of  these 
phenomena  is  so  much  to  be  deprecated.  .  .  . 
I  suppose  we  are  all  apt  to  fancy  our  own  power 
of  discernment  and  of  sound  judgment  to  be  some- 
what better  than  our  neighbours.  But  after  all, 
is  it  not  the  common-sense,  the  care,  the  patience, 
and    the    amount    of  uninterrupted    attention    we 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  3. 

2  Ibid.,  Part  XLVIII.,  Is.  (included  in  vol.  xviii.  pp.  323-351). 


SJJMMING    UP    THE    WHOLE    MATTER        133 

bestow  upon  any  psychical  phenomena  we  are 
investigating,  that  gives  value  to  the  opinion  at 
which  we  arrive,  and  not  the  particular  cleverness 
or  scepticism  of  the  observer  ?  The  lesson  we  all 
need  to  learn  is,  that  what  even  the  humblest  of 
men  affirm,  from  their  own  experience,  is  always 
worth  listening  to,  but  what  even  the  cleverest  of 
men,  in  their  ignorance,  deny,  is  never  worth  a 
moment's  attention."-^ 

As  regards  Professor  Sidgwick,  the  experimental 
work  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Kesearch  soon 
convinced  him  that  Thought-Transference,  or  Tele- 
pathy, was  a  fact.  In  an  address  in  1889,  after 
speaking  of  the  probabilities  of  testimony  given 
being  false,  he  says: — 

"It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  feel  that  a  part  of 
my  grounds  for  beheving  in  Telepathy,  depending 
as  it  does  on  personal  knowledge,  cannot  be  com- 
municated except  in  a  weakened  form  to  the 
ordinary  reader  of  the  printed  statements  which 
represent  the  evidence  that  has  convinced  me. 
Indeed  I  feel  this  so  strongly  that  I  have  always 
made  it  my  highest  ambition  as  a  psychical  re- 
searcher to  produce  evidence  which  will  drive  my 
opponents  to  doubt  my  honesty  or  veracity;  I 
think  there  are  a  very  small  minority  who  will 
not  doubt  them,  and  that  if  I  can  convince  them 
I  have  done  all  that  I  can  do :  as  regards  the 
majority  of  my  own  acquaintances  I  should  claim 
no  more  than  an  admission  that  they  were  con- 
siderably surprised  to  find  me  in  the  trick.''  ^ 

^  Proceedings  S.P.R.y  vol.  xviii.  pp.  340-341. 
2  Ibid.,  vol.  vi.  p.  5. 


134  SPIRITUALISM 

I  am  not  aware  that  Professor  Sidgwick  ever 
expressed  any  opinion  as  to  the  reality  of  the 
ordinary  physical  spiritualistic  manifestations.  It 
is  clear  that  he  believed  a  large  proportion  to  have 
been  fraudulently  produced.  As  to  some  psychical 
phenomena,  his  convictions  were  very  strong.  For 
instance,  in  the  final  paragraph  of  the  "  Report  on 
Hallucinations,"  which  occupies  the  whole  of  the 
tenth  volume  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society,  and 
to  which  he  appended  his  name,  these  two  sentences 
occur :  "  Between  deaths  and  apparitions  of  the 
dying  person  a  connection  exists  which  is  not  due 
to  chance  alone.  This  we  hold  as  a  proved  fact."  ^ 
And  Professor  Sidgwick  speaks  of  this  as  corrobo- 
rating the  conclusion  already  drawn  by  Mr.  Gurney 
nearly  ten  years  earlier. 

Mr.  Edmund  Gurney's  name  stands  next.  His 
earthly  work  came  to  a  sudden  termination  in 
1888.  "Phantasms  of  the  Living"  is  his  enduring 
memorial.  Although  two  other  names  are  asso- 
ciated with  his  on  the  title-page,  the  greater  part 
of  the  two  volumes  was  written  by  him  alone.  For 
most  of  the  views  expressed  Mr.  Gurney  is  solely 
responsible.  In  a  chapter  devoted  to  "  The  Theory 
of  Chance- Coincidence "  as  an  explanation  of  the 
order  of  natural  phenomena  to  which  "  Phantasms 
of  the  Living  "  belong,  Mr.  Gurney  says : — 

'*  Figures,  one  is  sometimes  told,  can  be  made 
to  prove  anything ;  but  I  confess  I  should  be 
curious  to  see  the  figures  by  which  the  theory  of 
chance- coincidence  could  here  be  proved  adequate 
to  the  facts.       Whatever  group  of  phenomena  be 

1  Proceedings  S.P.R,,  vol.  x  p.  394. 


SUMMING    UP   THE    WHOLE   MATTER        135 

selected,  and  whatever  method  of  reckoning  be 
adopted,  probabilities  are  hopelessly  and  even 
ludicrously  overpassed/'  ^ 

This  is  the  conclusion  referred  to  above  by  Pro- 
fessor Sidgwick.  With  exclusively  physical  pheno- 
mena Mr.  Gurney  did  not  much  concern  himself. 

The  last  of  the  five  names  mentioned  is  that  of 
Mr  F.  W.  H.  Myers.  The  written  testimony  he 
has  left  behind  enables  us  to  obtain  a  much  clearer 
view  of  his  conclusions  as  a  whole,  than  is  attain- 
able in  the  case  of  Professor  Sidgwick  and  Mr. 
Gurney.  The  convictions  which  he  came  to  in 
regard  to  the  two  most  notable  ''mediums"  in 
the  history  of  modern  spiritualism — D.  D.  Home 
and  W.  Stainton  Moses — are  evidence  that  he 
believed  in  most  of  the  alleged  phenomena  being 
proved  realities.  These  convictions  are  so  im- 
portant from  such  a  careful  and  competent  student 
of  the  subject  that  it  is  best  to  quote  them  in  his 
own  words.  Of  D.  D.  Home  he  said:  ''If  our 
readers  ask  us — 'Do  you  desire  us  to  go  on  ex- 
perimenting in  these  matters,  as  though  Home's 
phenomena  were  genuine  ? ' — we  answer  '  Yes.' "  ^ 
Of  the  phenomena  which  occurred  in  the  presence 
of  W.  Stainton  Moses,  Mr.  Myers  said:  "That 
they  were  not  produced  fraudulently  by  Dr.  Speer 
or  other  sitters  I  regard  as  proved  both  by  moral 
considerations  and  by  the  fact  that  they  are  con- 
stantly reported  as  occurring  when  Mr.  Moses  was 
alone.  That  Mr.  Moses  should  have  himself 
fraudulently    produced    them,    I     regard     as    both 

^  "Phantasms  of  the  Living,"  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 
'  Journal  S.P.R.,  voL  iv.  p.  115. 


136  SPIRITUALISM 

morally  and  physically  incredible.  That  lie  should 
have  prepared  and  produced  them  in  a  state  of 
trance,  I  regard  both  as  physically  incredible,  and 
also  as  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  tenour  both 
of  his  own  reports  and  of  those  of  his  friends.  I 
therefore  regard  the  reported  phenomena  as  having 
actually  occurred  in  a  genuinely  supernormal 
manner."  ^ 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Myers  believed  in  the 
existence  of  a  large  amount  of  conscious  and  wilful 
fraud,  especially  in  professional  mediumship. 

There  will  be  no  fitter  conclusion  to  this  volume 
than  a  few  passages  from  the  last  chapter,  entitled 
"  Epilogue,"  of  "  Human  Personality,"  by  Mr.  F.  W. 
H.  Myers.  To  a  large  extent  they  are  appropriate 
to  the  evidence  presented  in  the  preceding  pages. 

"The  task  which  I  proposed  to  myself  at  the 
beginning  of  this  work,  is  now,  after  a  fashion,  ac- 
complished. Following  the  successive  steps  of  my 
programme,  I  have  presented — not  indeed  all  the 
evidence  I  possess,  and  which  I  would  willingly 
present — but  enough  at  least  to  illustrate  a  con- 
tinuous exposition.  .  .  .  Such  wider  generalisations 
as  I  may  now  add,  must  needs  be  dangerously  specu- 
lative; they  must  run  the  risk  of  alienating  still 
further  from  this  research  many  of  the  scientific 
minds  which  I  am  most  anxious  to  influence.  .  .  . 

"  The  inquiry  falls  between  the  two  stools  of 
religion  and  science ;  it  cannot  claim  support  either 
from  the  '  religious  world '  or  from  the  Eoyal  Society. 
Yet  even  apart  from  the  instinct  of  pure  scientific 

^  Proceedings  S.P,2i.,  vol.  xi.  pp.  24-25. 


SUMMING   UP   THE    WHOLE    MATTER        137 

curiosity  (which  surely  has  seldom  seen  such  a 
field  opening  before  it),  the  mighty  issues  depending 
on  these  phenomena  ought,  I  think,  to  constitute  in 
themselves  a  strong,  an  exceptional  appeal.  I  desire 
in  this  book  to  emphasise  that  appeal ;  not  only  to 
produce  conviction,  but  also  to  attract  co-operation. 
And  actual  converse  with  many  persons  has  led  me 
to  believe  that  in  order  to  attract  such  help,  even 
from  scientific  men,  some  general  view  of  the  moral 
upshot  of  all  the  phenomena  is  needed.  .  .  .  The 
time  is  ripe  for  a  study  of  unseen  things  as  strenuous 
and  sincere  as  that  which  Science  has  made  familiar 
for  the  problems  of  earth." 

Coming  now  to  more  definite  considerations,  Mr. 
Myers  writes  thus  of  Telepathy,  lifting  it  on  to  an 
altogether  higher  plane :  "  In  the  infinite  Universe 
man  may  now  feel,  for  the  first  time,  at  home.  The 
worst  fear  is  over ;  the  true  security  is  won.  The 
worst  fear  was  the  fear  of  spiritual  extinction  or 
spiritual  solitude.  The  true  security  is  in  the 
telepathic  law.  Let  me  draw  out  my  meaning 
at  somewhat  greater  length.  As  we  have  dwelt 
successively  on  various  aspects  of  Telepathy  we  have 
gradually  felt  the  conception  enlarge  and  deepen 
under  our  study.  It  began  as  a  quasi-mechanical 
transference  of  ideas  and  images  from  one  to  another 
brain."  This  is  illustrated  by  the  series  of  Thought- 
Transference  Drawings ;  almost  the  only  telepathic 
manifestation  which  strictly  comes  within  the  scope 
of  our  inquiry  into  physical  phenomena.  ''  Presently 
we  find  it  assuming  a  more  varied  and  potent  form, 
as  though  it  were  the  veritable  influence  or  invasion 
of  a  distant  mind.       Again,  its  action  was  traced 


138  SPIRITUALISM 

across  a  gulf  greater  than  any  space  of  earth  or  ocean, 
and  it  bridged  the  interval  between  spirits  incarnate 
and  discarnate,  between  the  visible  and  the  invisible 
world.  There  seemed  no  limit  to  the  distance  of  its 
operation,  or  to  the  intimacy  of  its  appeal.  .  .  . 

"  Love  ...  is  no  matter  of  carnal  impulse  or  of 
emotional  caprice.  .  .  .  Love  is  a  kind  of  exalted 
but  unspecialised  Telepathy ; — the  simplest  and  most 
universal  expression  of  that  mutual  gravitation  or 
kinship  of  spirits  which  is  the  foundation  of  the 
telepathic  law.  This  is  the  answer  to  the  ancient 
fear ;  the  fear  lest  man's  fellowships  be  the  outward, 
and  his  solitude  the  inward  thing.  .  .  .  Such  fears 
vanish  when  we  learn  that  it  is  the  soul  in  man 
which  links  him  with  other  souls ;  the  body  which 
dissevers  even  while  it  seems  to  unite.  .  .  .  Like 
atoms,  like  suns,  like  galaxies,  our  spirits  are  systems 
of  forces  which  vibrate  continually  to  each  other's 
attractive  power." 

For  the  further  working  out  of  these  thoughts 
the  reader  must  be  referred  to  Mr.  Myers'  book  itself. 
After  a  few  pages  Mr.  Myers  proceeds  : — 

"Our  duty  [the  duty  of  Psychical  Researchers] 
is  not  the  founding  of  a  new  sect,  nor  even  the 
establishment  of  a  new  science,  but  is  rather  the 
expansion  of  Science  herself  until  she  can  satisfy 
those  questions,  which  the  human  heart  will  rightly 
ask,  but  to  which  Religion  alone  has  thus  far 
attempted  an  answer.  ...  I  see  our  original 
programme  completely  justified.  ...  I  see  all 
things  coming  to  pass  as  we  foresaw.  What  I  do 
not  see,  alas !  is  an  energy  and  capacity  of  our  own, 
sufficient    for  our    widening  duty.  .  .  .  We  invite 


SUMMING   UP   THE    WHOLE    MATTER        139 

workers  from  each  department  of  science,  from  every 
school  of  thought.  With  equal  confidence  we  appeal 
for  co-operation  to  savant  and  to  saint. 

"  To  the  savant  we  point  out  that  we  are  not  trying 
to  pick  holes  in  the  order  of  Nature,  but  rather  by  the 
scrutiny  of  residual  phenomena,  to  get  nearer  to  the 
origin  and  operation  of  Nature's  central  mystery  of 
Life.  Men  who  realise  that  the  ethereal  environment 
was  discovered  yesterday,  need  not  deem  it  impos- 
sible that  a  metethereal  environment — ^yet  another 
omnipresent  system  of  cosmic  law — should  be  dis- 
covered to-morrow.  The  only  valid  a  priori  pre- 
sumption in  the  matter,  is  the  presumption  that  the 
Universe  is  infinite  in  an  infinite  number  of  ways. 

"  To  the  Christian  we  can  speak  with  a  still  more 
direct  appeal.  You  believe — I  would  say — that 
a  spiritual  world  exists,  and  that  it  abted  on  the 
material  world  two  thousand  years  ago.  Surely  it 
is  so  acting  still.  Nay,  you  believe  that  it  is  so 
acting  still,  for  you  believe  that  prayer  is  heard  and 
answered.  To  believe  that  prayer  is  heard  is  to 
believe  in  Telepathy — in  the  direct  influence  of  mind 
on  mind.  To  believe  that  prayer  is  answered  is  to 
believe  that  unembodied  spirit  does  actually  modify 
(even  if  not  storm-cloud  or  plague-germ)  at  least 
the  minds,  and  therefore  the  brains,  of  living  men. 
From  that  belief  the  most  advanced  '  psychical ' 
theories  are  easy  corollaries." 

A  few  more  lines  in  conclusion : — 

"  It  may  be  that  for  some  generations  to  come 
the  truest  faith  will  lie  in  the  patient  attempt  to 
unravel  from  confused  phenomena  some  trace  of  the 
supernal  world ; — to  find  thus  at  last '  the  substance 


140  SPIRITUALISM 

of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen/ 
I  confess,  indeed,  that  I  have  often  felt  as  though 
this  present  age  were  even  unduly  favoured; — as 
though  no  future  revelation  and  calm  could  equal 
the  joy  of  this  great  struggle  from  doubt  into 
certainty; — from  the  materialism  or  agnosticism 
which  accompany  the  first  advance  of  Science  into 
the  deeper  scientific  conviction  that  there  is  a  death- 
less soul  in  man.  I  can  imagine  no  other  crisis  of 
such  deep  delight/' 


THE    END 


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2-hour  books  must  be  renewed  in  person 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed 

mm  nrfhVk^^  STAMPED  BELOW 

nF  r  ft  4  199  ^ 

UL.V    \l  ^    WW 

w 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD10                                        BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

CDSTSDSflOfi 


